


Senseless, Book One - The Couple

by FeugoFox42



Series: Senseless [1]
Category: RWBY
Genre: Adventure, Drama, F/F, F/M, Family, Fluff, Humor, Lewd-Lite, Multi, Mystery, One Scene of Intense Violence, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-28
Updated: 2019-06-30
Packaged: 2020-05-14 20:14:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 38
Words: 141,352
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19280362
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FeugoFox42/pseuds/FeugoFox42
Summary: Not everyone has everything. Some people wish for material items. Others just want to experience what they're missing out. When the Blind boy of Team CFVY and the Mute hired gun meet in unlikely circumstances, what becomes of them is something no one could have predicted.Set in an AU where Beacon never fell, and CRME's goals are set a little lower than you're normally used to.





	1. Starting with Nothing

**Author's Note:**

> This story was first written in April 2017, with this chapter first being uploaded on June 1st 2017. LOTS of information has come out since then, specifically about Team CFVY: Fox's Semblance, home Kingdom, and Weapon Name, and Velvet's Semblance and Weapon Name too. I will eventually go through and change everything to better line up with canon where appropriate, but I changing all of that will take a LOT of rewriting, which will take time.  
> Some things may still remain, such as Fox's Semblance in this story, because altering that alters the entire story

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As a celebration of After The Fall finally coming to a comfy chair and a nice warm drink near you, I decided that it is finally time to give all you AO3 lot my big CFVY/Neo centric story, Senseless. The whole story was a 10 month labour of love, and to have it now on AO3 makes me happy.
> 
> Enjoy the story!

**KEY:**

"Speech"  
_Thought_  
{" _Sign Language_ "}  
**Scroll message**  
_*Scroll call*_

* * *

"In dreams we enter a world that's entirely our own."

Fox remembered that from when his Mother used to read him books before bed. The third Harry Potter book, if he recalled correctly. It was his favourite quote from all the books he'd had read to him. He'd never made it past the fourth book when he was younger due to timing and the fact the books started to get _really_ dark, but he hung onto the fact that he would finish them before Beacon was out. And he hung to that quote too, like a lifeline.

Like everyone else who could, Fox dreamed. He had good dreams, like the time he dreamt he saw his family - Mother and Father and his two siblings, and his teammates all gathered round a table feasting and laughing and being merry; and he had bad dreams, like the time he dreamt he saw his family - Mother and Father and his two siblings, and his teammates all killed before his eyes by the vicious and ravenous Nothing, their screams echoing through his mind as if they were right beside him.

For Fox, tonight was a bad dream night. The copper haired boy threw himself up screaming, the sound frightening the shy Faunus girl with acute hearing awake and their team leader as well. The scream also woke Yatsuhashi, but he knew that when Coco heard his partner scream and went to console him his input would not be needed. Coco was a brilliant leader, she could handle it.

"Whoa whoa, Fox, easy. Easy now." Having had plenty of practice and experience dealing with not only his but her own partner's insecurities, the still sleepy fashionista rested one hand on Fox's exposed and scarred back, the second grabbing his hand and holding it to his own heart so that he could feel it racing. "Feel it?" Though still breathing sporadically, he nodded. "Fix it." One tactic she often used to calm him was to make him feel how hard his heart was beating and thus make him realise his state and force him to calm down via his own means, usually through low-level meditation as taught by Yatsuhashi over their break between first and second semester in Year One. Fox focussed on his breathing; he held his own hand closer to his chest to feel the speed of his heart and matched his intakes and releases of breaths with each pump. After perfectly matching, he slowed his breaths down and as a result brought his heartrate down as well. It was simple, but so effective. His heart rested much closer to its normal bpm before Coco asked him the mandatory question.

"So, what was it this time? The Nothing again?" Fox named the beast of his nightmares The Nothing, as that is what he imagined true blindness felt like - a void that consumed all that he held dear. Most people knew him to be blind; all medical experts he spoke to would agree and by their own words he was technically and medically blind. But he was not sightless, not 'truly blind' per se. He could see, in more ways than one.

For starters, when he opened his eyes there was a distinction between the two states. He saw light. That was about the only thing he saw. The only time he could see anything else was when it was right up in front of his face. If Fox balled his hand to a fist, then placed the second knuckle of his thumb on the tip of his nose, then raised his little finger upwards, his finger would be blurry near beyond recognition and anything past that was just a giant wad of not-dark; he didn't really know colours but he knew it wasn't dark. He was so short sighted that no lenses would be powerful enough to fix his vision even as a child, and as time went on his vision worsened because when you don't use anything for a long time, your body stops trying to get you to use it. As Fox wasn't using his eyes, why focus on trying to make them better? The second reason was because of his semblance. Whether it was always going to manifest itself like this or whether it was pure coincidence he did not know, but his semblance allows him to see around him by bursting his Aura into the ground and having things bounce back to him; kind of like echo location. Fox saw what everyone's Aura looked like and how it moved inside and around them. Yatsuhashi's Aura flowed peacefully around his body like an olive green river, Coco's caramel coloured Aura danced around her body normally, but much like Velvet's deep scarlet Aura, calmed and pulsated in unison whenever the two were around each other. Creatures of Grimm were easy to identify as well; they bounced back darkness. Not exactly a void, but an area of darkness nonetheless.

"No. This was different. It was new." Her eyebrows arched as she sat on the side of her teammate's bed; Fox seldom had 'new' nightmares, it always came back to The Nothing in some way, shape or form.

"How was it different Fox?" Velvet sleepily shifted her weight in her bed as well, listening to the conversation.

"I saw us together. We were in a large space, not outside. It felt new, but old at the same time. I sensed all of the Kingdoms in this place but never any people. Just us. We were all together when I felt a sharp pain. Unimaginable, almost indescribable. Suddenly I saw more figures. Another team maybe? One of them held something, I couldn't make out what but it was small. I remember dying. I heard my name called in a voice I've never heard before. And that's when I woke up." The team leader shot her girlfriend a look making sure she didn't look terrified at the story - as much as she loved her, she was scared very easily and sometimes it was a little difficult to calm both her and Fox down at once. Fortunately, she appeared to be more curious than scared.

"Fox, it was just a bad dream. You know this."

"But it felt so real. That voice sounded new and so real."

"I know buddy, I know." She gave the scarred boy a quick hug before standing. "Try to get back to sleep, we'll work through it in the morning." The boy nodded and lay back down to rest once again. He heard Coco wander over to Velvet's bunk and kiss her before going back to her own bed. Milky white eyes shifted away from the scene he didn't see. Deep down in his heart he wanted something like that; someone to love who loved him back in the way Coco and Velvet loved one another. But who could love this? Yatsuhashi had always said, "Never fall asleep feeling negative emotions, your dreams will reflect your state of mind" - wise words, but ultimately fruitless in this case. Fox slept feeling disheartened at what he didn't have. But then he recalled that voice. It was soft and new; a voice unlike any other. It sounded worn down, and the cry felt like one of desperation. Who was that? He decided to dwell on that thought no longer, and closed his eyes once more for (hopefully) a much more uneventful rest of the night. 

* * *

When discussing evil plans, there are often a few things that need to be thought out: What the goal is. Who's going to do what. How much time do you have to complete the task. Interference, what would you do if and when it comes. Back-up Plans. All that sort of thing. But most importantly, it's how the 'team' is going to communicate throughout the mission that doesn't result in compromise.

The key word there being communicate.

As much as she enjoyed doing this thing with her "friends", Neo wasn't a huge fan of having to have a babysitter throughout the entire mission due to her inability to speak. Hands down, she was the second most capable person in the entire room when it came to fighting and planning, second only to Cinder herself. But because she herself couldn't communicate to anyone she _needed_ to be with someone so that the rest of the group could know when their side of things were over. Fortunately for her 'team', she was much more of a do-er than a talker anyway, but that didn't mean she wasn't much of a thinker. It also made her feel like a child. It was scary to think how often she was made to feel like less of a person than the rest. Roman often called her throwaway names like 'kiddo'. Cinder detested being with her at all. Emerald and Mercury had both on separate occasions tried accidently forgetting about her or losing her on the mission so that she wouldn't come back with them. Honestly, she wished that she could leave them all. But because of everything she had done with these people she was a wanted woman and there were very few places on Remnant she could go without being recognised and arrested - this was her life now.

The petite woman sat on a crate away from everyone else as the plan was discussed in detail.

"So, it should be arriving in the next few minutes. We don't want to strike for the next day or two because they always have measures for that." Cinder Fall was highly experienced in this sort of thing, she knew how security was handled. Roman, who also had years of experience over the three younger members, added his own information to the table.

"After two days of high level security, numbers drop off steadily to free staff up for jobs elsewhere. Day five or six is probably when they're at equal parts most comfortable and lowest numbers and that's when we ought to strike. These guys are idiots."

"The shipment contains only a single item, an artefact. But that item is essential for the plan - I will not be leaving that place without it." That was all Neo believed she needed to hear, so she zoned out from that point onwards.

"So, what is it? You hadn't told any of us what it is before and frankly, I don't want to be risking my life for some trivial gift shop statue." Cinder smirked at Emerald's comment, willing to share the information with her colleague.

"I did not mention it due to the level of importance that item to everything we do from this point out. Had I told any of you and the information was to make its way to the authorities, to Huntsmen, to Ozpin, then the entire thing is ruined. Call it 'Need to Know Information'. Until now, you had no need." The tattooed woman grabbed one of the scrolls from the floor and unravelled it to show a sketch of the artefact, various small Polaroid photos spilling out as well. "The item is said to be from a time before humanity as we know it. The Parchment of Volentes."

"Never heard of it," Mercury scoffed.

"With good reason. The Parchment of Volentes only ever materialises in this world every century or so but it can do amazing things. That's why archaeological groups from all over Remnant were so keen to keep it under wraps. Unfortunately for them - and fortunately for us - the curator, along with people in high places on the governing body, won the argument and it's being stored in a museum with heavy security and round the clock surveillance so that no one could misuse it."

"Yeah, but what does it do?" The silver grey haired boy snapped at his boss' waffling. Fiery eyes and tattoos glowed as the woman snapped back.

"Keep quiet and I might tell you!" Her tone struck fear into the boy. Emerald held his arm with her own, comforting him but mostly to steady herself. "The artefact can grant the one who possesses it a wish. There are-"

"What like a Genie?" Emerald lowered her head immediately, realising that she had voiced her own thoughts aloud when they were meant to be in her head. "Sorry..."

"As I was saying, there are a handful of documented wishes that can _never_ be granted. The second ever wish from the Parchment was the wish for eternal life. That man perished instantly and his remains along with the artefact itself vanished from existence for centuries. The second un-grantable wish was for infinite power, which frustrated me when I first saw that but I have figured a work around which I will explain later. The third is duplicating the Parchment of Volentes itself. This has only..."

The Faction had been planning this heist for ages now, ever since an anonymous tip-off about it some months prior. And from the get go, Neo seemed uninterested. Why would they want to steal a new artefact? There were plenty of museums that they could rob right now and steal from. It'd take far less planning and it could be done right now. Heck, with how often she was ignored in this place, she could have very easily slipped away and stolen something for them now. Or at the very least, it was something to do to preoccupy herself. She instead sat on the crate alone with her thoughts.

"What would you even do if you left here?" "Where would you go?" Basic questions she asked herself on a regular basis yet never found the time or energy to either answer them in her mind or bite the bullet and leave to figure out the answers in real life. She was... wait, what?! There was something that the group beside her had just mentioned that she felt a strong urge to listen to. She clapped once to draw attention to herself, a signal the four people around the table turned to. She wasn't sure if what she heard was right or whether she had interpreted it based on her train of thought, so she simply signed to the group one word;

{" _Repeat._ "}

"Thank you for actually paying attention for once Neo" Cinder hissed. "I'm not repeating everything so I'll be brief; this artefact is said to grant any user a wish of their choice, with a few documented exceptions. If we get this, there would be nothing to stop us from fulfilling our goal. Did you hear it that time?" Semi-sheepishly, Neo nodded and shuffled back onto her box.

_This is it,_ Neo she thought to herself. _Your chance. You can escape this madness and live your life._ The ice cream themed girl smiled a genuine smile and focussed in on the plan - this was the first time in years that she actively listened to the plan as it was being revealed, rather than figuring it out or being spoon fed it as it went along. This was maybe the one and only opportunity to be free, and you bet she was going to grab that opportunity by the horns.


	2. A Brief History of Dreams

"So," she said as she wiped her mouth clean, "what can you remember about your dream Fox?"

"I'm not sure Velvet. I try to forget about my nightmares." He stared blankly at his food, focussing on the plate to hopefully discourage his teammates from prying. He was lying, of course. But this one wasn't really one he was up for discussing openly, he needed time to process it himself first.

"But you mentioned how real it felt, surely there has to be some reason behind why it felt like that."

"I agree with Velvet." The deep voice of Yatsuhashi sent a shiver down Fox's scarred spine. Not because it was threatening or anything, but purely because was so damn deep. "It seems to me that your nightmare last night was more than just a dream. It sounds more like a premonition." Milky eyes looked up towards his partner.

"A premonition? Yatsu, I can barely see anything. I have been like this since I was a boy. How can I be getting dreams of what might happen if I don't even know what is happening right now?"

"Tiresias was a man from the times of the First Civilisation long before the Grimm or Dust were ever known to the world who saw nothing with his eyes and yet still could communicate with the Gods of his time and was known for his clairvoyance. His blindness did not affect his ability to predict the future; it enhanced it and made him view the world in a different light. The lack of natural sight made his own predictions less biased to opinion and most, if not all, seemed to come true."

"I am not Tiresias, Yatsu. I'm me. That sort of thing happens to me one time and you start spouting knowledge about a blind prophet from a time long since past?"

"I was merely attempting to ease your mind on the possibility of this being a more regular occurring event."

"Well it isn't helping!" Coco felt a little uneasy sitting between the two at the moment. Yatsuhashi was a big guy, a walking tank by anyone's standards and not the sort of person you'd want to pick a fight with, unless you had a death wish. But Fox seemed to be incredibly short-tempered with everyone this morning and having an argument with Yatsuhashi right over her head wasn't exactly the way she wanted to start the day. Maybe that dream hit him harder than she thought. She decided to take action.

"Easy boys. Fox, with me." She dropped her cutlery on her tray and rose quickly with it. Seizing the opportunity to leave the conversation, Fox stopped eating as well.

"Gladly." Even saying that to his leader was sharp. It definitely needed to be discussed. Not with the others though, just the pair of them.

"Apologise to Professor Port for us if we're not back." Velvet nodded and lowered her head back to her plate. It was clear she felt a little guilty for initially prying. Yatsuhashi also fell silent. He felt ashamed for what he said and it was clear he felt he had made the situation worse. After they had handed their trays back, the two of them walked away from the cafeteria and took a leisurely stroll around the grounds. Coco said nothing deliberately. Fox said nothing because he was angry at first. As time passed in silence he grew more and more frustrated at it; it was as if he'd lost another one of his senses, the lack of noise frustrated him.

"What did you want Coco?"

"Finally!" she cried. "I thought we were going to have to walk around in silence all day. I wanted you to tell me about your dream." Before he could open his mouth again, Coco finished her sentence. "But on your terms; not mine, not Yatsuhashi's, not Velvet's. It's why I didn't ask before, why I made you speak first. And now I will let you speak about it as much as you want." Fox smirked. She was good. But that's why she's in charge.

"Okay, I will tell. Can we sit?" They found a bench close by and sat before Fox started recounting the event. "Contrary to what I said earlier to Velvet, I remember my nightmares vividly. This one was no exception. The setting is what seemed most confusing about everything - that ancient newness, if that makes sense to you." The fashionista's head nodded to let the boy continue. She didn't know what he was on about but having Fox continuing to talk gave her time to think.

_So long as he doesn't ask you what you think it could mean Coco, you're in the clear._

"So, what do you think it means then?"

 _Shit._ "Well, I mean... you say that it felt like the place was old, but at the same time it felt new, right?" The copper haired boy nodded. "So, that could mean that it's a place that is originally quite old but has recently been refurbished or something, hence why it feels new. So where in Vale has recently been given a new lick of paint but the building itself if relatively old." Fox's expression changed as he countered her claim on the building's location.

"It might not be in Vale."

"Huh?" _Damn it and I thought I had managed to bullshit my way out of there quite well..._ "What're you thinking?"

"Well I remember sensing all of the Kingdoms in that one space, so it could be anywhere. But at the same time we can't be deployed on missions outside of Vale until our final year. So actually that either means it's a long way off before this event happens - if it does at all - or it is actually still in Vale. To be honest, I'm not sure which option I'd prefer."

"Fox remember; it's a dream. It happened in the past and you need to move..." The girl's thoughts strayed as she said the words once again. Something added up in her head as she spoke. "Dream?" _No_ _, that's not it._ "Past?" _Maybe, but why?_   "Past... past..." It clicked again. "Past! Fox, the Vale Museum! A place that is quite new filled with trinkets and memorabilia from all four Kingdom's histories. Fox that has to be it! You saw us fighting something or someone there!" The words made sense to the boy as well, that would explain a lot about the dream.

"I think you got it Coco. The dream took place at the Museum!"

 _Coco, you clever little shit you._ She took a mental note to reward herself later as she stood, ushering her teammate to do the same. "C'mon Fox, we've got to tell Ozpin or Professor Goodwitch. If what you dreamt could actually happen, they ought to know."

"We ought to know what?" The second years jumped as the two people they were just talking about walked up the pair of them.

"Sorry Professors, you startled us."

"We are aware, and I tried to explain to Professor Ozpin here that sneaking up on a blind student is most unwise," Professor Goodwitch explained with a sigh. "Yet, here we are."

"Yes, I do apologise for that." The green clad Headmaster took a sip from his cup before he continued, his voice not exactly oozing with regret for his action. "However it is coincidental how both parties needed to be in touch with one another at the same time."

"Sir?" Fox's head cocked sideways in confusion.

"We wanted to inform you that we have a new mission for you and your team, Ms. Adel. And my guess would be you already can suss where you may be going and what it may be regarding." Coco had figured it out, so answered his comment with a question.

"Does this have anything to do with Fox's nightmare?"

"Oh dear, a nightmare? I'm sorry to hear you had one Mr. Alistair." The two students looked at each other puzzled; surely he had to know Fox had a nightmare about what he did, else he wouldn't have mentioned the fact that they knew where they were going. He was being extremely vague - more so than usual.

"So, where exactly would be we posted?"

"All will be revealed in briefing, if your team is willing to take up the task at hand."

"Of course we are sir."

"Ms. Adel," Goodwitch chimed in, "may I remind you that all members of a team are supposed to be consulted before agreeing to undertake any mission, as per the rules of this Academy."

"But we don't know what we're doing. We can't agree to something if we don't what we're agreeing to; even the slightest information could help us make a decision."

"Very well; but just this once," the Headmaster said, sipping from his cup once again. "It will be a Security Based Mission of the greatest of importance. I cannot divulge any more information than that due to the risk that it may pose until I have had the entire team's approval in person. So should you wish to undertake this mission, the briefing will be held at 1:30pm in my office today. It is a very important mission, and you would need plenty of time to prepare for it, hence the short space of time I have given you to decide. I will also authorise your team's absence from your lectures should you come see me. Understood?"

"Yes sir," the pair replied in unison. The two adults smiled and turned away.

* * *

1:27pm. There was a ring from the far end of the room as the elevator announced that it would be arriving within the next few seconds. After that time had passed, metallic doors slid open and Team CFVY walked into Professor Ozpin's office atop the Tower in Beacon Academy.

"Welcome Team CFVY. You're early."

"We know you don't like to wait too long, sir."

"Indeed you are right Ms. Adel. I take it there was unanimous agreement on accepting this mission." Four heads nodded at the man.

"Yes sir."

"Good. Then let us brief." The four students approached the desk he sat at, looking at the small pile of paper in front of him. "Have you ever heard of the Parchment of Volentes?" All four students answered with a resounding no. "Good. I'd like you to keep it that way. Once the mission is complete I will explain more about it in your de-brief. All you need to know about it is that it has been documented to be one of the most powerful items on the planet. A single touch grants he, or she, who touches the power of a Being beyond comprehension. The only thing is, it can be used once then it disappears for a hundred years or so."

"Forgive my interruption sir," Yatsuhashi spoke purposefully, "but why must we protect this item if it is to potentially disappear for a hundred years again?"

"A valid question Mr. Daichi, and one that will be answered in due time." The tall man nodded in appreciation of his query being answered, albeit partially. "As I mentioned, the Parchment of Volentes is said to be powerful. And as Mr. Daichi said - and I'm sure you all figured out - I have tasked you all to protect the item."

"Surely the Vale authorities would provide much better protection than we ever could sir."

"Against normal, everyday crooks - perhaps. But these aren't them. Sources believe that Roman Torchwick, along with a few other notable people of infamy he's worked with in the past, are working together once more to capture this item and use its - shall we say, mystical properties - for themselves. That is why I want Team CFVY there; if these criminals are there then we need a strong team to combat them. If you could apprehend them as well, that would be an added bonus and may even play to your favour when it comes to reviewing the mission."

"We'd be delighted to take on this task sir," Coco grinned as she spoke, this was the first proper time their task hadn't involved Grimm in any way and it was an exhilarating thought. Sure, it meant more planning, but that was the second best part sometimes. Her teammates seemed to match her enthusiasm.

"I'm glad to hear that. You will be based around the new exhibition showing off the partially revealed Parchment of Volentes in the Vale History Museum." Milky eyes widened and turned towards the beret wearing girl sitting near him. The Vale Museum. Maybe Yatsu wasn't kidding about the whole "blind prophet" thing. If his vision was to be taken literally, they will all die. If they didn't, Fox had some serious apologising to do. Ozpin continued on over the scarred boy's thoughts. "The Parchment arrived only yesterday evening, so they could strike at any time. But going off previous heists from these people, they don't usually strike immediately. I'm going to give you two days before I post you there. In that time, I expect you to formulate a plan."

"Understood Professor."

"Good. Are there any questions about your mission?" Three members shook their heads knowing that everything they wanted to know had been answered. Fox, however, remained silent for a second or two - he didn't even know what he wanted to know. In the end, he shook his head as well. "Excellent. I shall arrange an airship to drop you off outside the Museum just before it closes at 4:30pm in two days' time."

"No need Professor Ozpin, we can walk. It's not like it's that much of a hike to the Museum." With a slight chuckle, Ozpin let the team make their own way there. He dismissed them shortly after. The ride down the elevator seemed so much longer than it had ever been before for Fox. Maybe for Coco as well, but she didn't seem to be showing it.

"Guys, my nightmare was in the Museum." Cute little rabbit ears lay down on Velvet's head as she processed her friend's words.

"So, do you think that means we'll..." what she wanted to say wouldn't come out anyway, but Coco stopped her girlfriend's train of thought before she uttered another word.

"No Velvs, that means nothing. What it means is that Fox somehow saw what _might_ happen in this place _if_ they get their hands on this thing. It also means we are going to do everything we possibly can to avoid that happening at all. Right?" Her team rallied behind her as the doors finally slid open on the ground floor. They'd have to have an extensive plan for this; if they failed, Fox's nightmare could become their reality.


	3. Setting Up

The team left Beacon on foot around about 10:00am. By Fox's calculation, they could make it to the Museum itself by 11:30am, given them more than enough time to scout the location completely and then set themselves up. Which was perfect, they needed to know that place inside and out if they were going to be protecting it. But they all knew that they weren't due to arrive there until 4:30pm to scout around and even that was plenty of time. They decided leaving this early also meant that the team could take their time with things and enjoy themselves for what could possibly be their last ever mission. The entire team were thinking positively - they were not going to fail this mission and they would return to Beacon alive - but Fox and Velvet suggested that because there is a slight chance that they could die they should spent the time beforehand together as a team.

Coco took Velvet to her favourite store and spent a good deal of time looking through clothes that would show off her girlfriend in the most amazing way. She did mention to the gentleman that was helping them that they had a mission to go on so couldn't take anything today but providing the pair of them make it back alive this'll be her first stop. He didn't seem to mind too much. Yatsuhashi wandered around Vale aimlessly, taking in the sights he had seen many times before, but he never once complained. Fox found his way to the park and sunbathed under a willow tree by the makeshift pond, the cool breeze blowing through his hair and the faint sound of flowing water relaxing his mind. It was his favourite spot.

They all met up again early afternoon to have lunch together. Fox had a large steak – medium rare – and chips, Yatsuhashi ate a chicken wrap with rice and beans, Velvet and Coco shared a large pizza with extra vegetables, but Coco ruined the team's fairly 'healthy' streak by ordering an ice cream sundae with both chocolate and caramel sauce on top for pudding. She mentioned how she still needed to reward herself for sussing out Fox's dream, and this was her reward. They left there with spirits high and appetites appeased, and made it to the entrance of the Museum at 3:52pm.

The team had never actually been inside the Museum itself. They'd walked past it plenty of times, but never inside and it was spectacular. Velvet's eyes were drawn to the ornate ceiling that decorated the main entrance. Yatsuhashi felt like exploring the Museum and taking in all the information he could. Coco kept restraining Velvet from leaping towards anything she found of interest, rattling off any information she knew on the object in question.

"I appreciate the thought, but I don't need a guided tour of the place guys." Fox said semi-jokingly. "Do you think we can set up first, and stare later?" The three others caught up to Fox and headed to their designated spot. They set themselves up in employee lounge adjacent from the room with the display in, that way they could respond quickly if some of them were asleep. As per their norm, the team ensured that each other's Scrolls were operational and that their in-ear radios worked as well. Once that was all sorted, Team CFVY readied themselves for the mission ahead.

The first night they spent there was a recon night. After everyone had a look at the Parchment (or sensing and familiarising himself with the unique signature it gave off when using his semblance, in Fox's case) Yatsuhashi and Velvet had a much more in-depth and studied look of the artefact, trying to spot various little things that would identify it against a fake copy whilst Fox and Coco made a head start on getting a feel for the Museum's structure and interior layout. It was their one chance they had to learn everything they could about the place; how each floor was layered, which rooms led to which other rooms, where the little secret staff doorways were and how much of the floor could be cut out by using them. Once both parties had shared all their individual Intel, Fox and Velvet went to establish their patrol routes for their time here whilst the remaining two members of the team convened in the room once more to figure out a strategy. Coco's mind was incredible when it came to things like this. She loved her fashion, that was obvious, but this sort of thing was truly where she exceled.

Early on in CFVY's time at Beacon she had devised a way to maximise the processing of information in the team. Yatsuhashi and her would pair up with either Velvet or Fox first - depending on the situation at hand - and do something together. In this case, getting the layout of the Museum and studying the artefact. Then the two shyer teammates would pair up and go through one of the things that were discussed in their pairs earlier and have them explain it to the other - Fox pointing out all of the little nooks and crannies that people could hide in to Velvet.

There were times where Fox felt bad having to have Velvet just listen to him rather than she showing him something, but there were occasions such as this mission where she physically could do nothing about that; he didn't have the eyesight to identify the little nuances that separated a fake from the original. On the flip side, Velvet couldn't sense the artefact, so it kind of evened out in the end.

The final part was to get them to explain to both Yatsuhashi and Coco simultaneously what the plan was. Coco and Yatsuhashi were shown what their patrol routes would be by Velvet, who had amended them ever so slightly from what Fox had suggested so that there were less of the secret hiding and traversing spots that intruders could exploit. Fox this time listened to Coco explain the strategy for what happens when they come in and how they were going to deal with them. This entire process took them from early evening to about 11:15pm. The rest of the night was spent walking the patrol routes and catching up on some rest between shifts.

The second night was completely uneventful.

As was the third.

But on night four...

* * *

Vale Authorities have to go down as probably the most and least fun Neo ever had concerning hurting people. They are so stupidly dumb that she could watch an endless line of them jump off a cliff with a smile plastered upon her face like a masochist. And yet, there was no fun in beating up Average Joe's who are just trying to make a way of living.

 _Not long now Neo. Once you're inside, you can make a break for it._ Cinder's snapping fingers broke the small woman out of her pleasant daydreams and instead swapped them out for the greyness of reality.

"In your own time Neo." Multi-coloured eyes narrowed at her boss as she caught up to the rest of the group. "Now we've had word that a security detail has been posted in preparation for our arrival, so it's clear that someone beforehand knew what our end game would be, or at the very least knew our hand. I'm going to assume it's a Huntsmen Team from Ozpin's 'illustrious' school, so be on your guard." Roman felt uneasy about hearing that.

"I swear, if I have to deal with those same girls one more time, I'm just gonna kill them where they stand. I am sick to death of them ruining everything I do!"

"I share your annoyance Roman, but I doubt it's them." He breathed a sigh of relief, but was still hesitant on completely relaxing just yet.

"So," Mercury said "how are we getting in?"

"Same as we planned; we go in separately and so long as two of us make it to the room the rest can cause a diversion so that they can grab the item and leave." Everyone nodded and readied themselves to leave. "Remember, we do not leave her without it!" Those last words ringing in her mind, Neo shot off towards where she was supposed to be assigned. But the second everyone was out of sight, she doubled back and went to the same entrance as Emerald. She would be the closest to the Parchment and so that was the best opening to make her move. For once she felt she had a real sense of purpose on this mission. Her own purpose.

* * *

Fox's ears twitched at the feeling of unfamiliar footsteps flowing through the room he was just about to leave. It wasn't any of the regular guards, they had been knocked down to a skeleton crew for tonight and even then most of them were on perimeter duty. These were new footsteps. Fox slinked into one of the hidden corners of the room and activated his semblance. He saw a circle of energy emitting from his body and radiating outwards. As it did, things became clearer in his mind. He saw all the artefacts and pieces of art in that room. He could retrace where his past few steps were taken as the residual energy from each step still stained the floor - although most of them were fading and, the thing he was hoping for, he felt an unfamiliar Aura coming from the far side of the room, sneaking its way towards the exhibition. The scarred boy pressed the button on his in-ear radio and spoke to the rest of his group.

"They're here. One's on the Second Floor, Great War Wing. Keep vigilant, I'm tailing this one." With the rest of his team aware that they were not alone in the Museum any more, he started following. Fox could tell a lot about a person from their footsteps. This person has had a fair amount of experience when it comes to being sneaky, but not tonnes. This can't be Cinder then. She's - he could tell that it's a she - very careless when it comes to this as well. It seemed to Fox like she had something that she would rely on more than her ability to be subtle, hence the carelessness. But that worked in the favour of Fox.

Yatsuhashi heard Fox's call and lay low. Being 7ft tall made it very difficult to be as stealthy as the rest of his team. But he had trained for many years and in that time he honed the skills necessary to hide himself with inactivity. He sat perfectly still, legs crossed to maintain balance, his inhales sharp and silent and exhales long so to keep the noise he generated to a minimum, his heart beating slowly to so that he could remain there indefinitely unmoving like the hulking statue he was. And that's when he heard it. A faint metallic clunking in a step. Someone was close, someone with robotic enhancements on their legs. Yatsuhashi informed the rest of team.

"Top Floor, Atlas Wing. Male, probable cybernetic enhancements on legs. I've got him." It was very hard for him to keep quiet with a deep booming voice like his, but he managed. As the clunking disappeared from the room altogether, the tank rose to follow him.

Humming? This guy clearly wasn't very good. Velvet stayed out of sight as the person she heard approached where she was. A dark figure swooped into her view, still humming that tune quietly to himself. She gasped quietly as she noted his appearance; white overcoat, bowler hat, cane. This was Roman Torchwick himself. Her initial instincts were to run, Roman had a few run-ins with the White Fang before and he had expressed his utter distain for the extremist Faunus Group and every other Faunus to boot, so her being the one to confront him wouldn't be the best thing to ever happen to her. At the same time, who knows what'll happen if she didn't. She composed herself as she spoke to her team and slid her small frame out into the open.

"Roman is on the First Floor, I'll deal with him."

Coco heard her partner's words and responded with haste.

"Be careful, hun." _That was stupid_ , she reminded herself afterwards. _You're a Huntress; you shouldn't do that on a mission._ At the same time, she realised she didn't care what she should or shouldn't have done; her girlfriend was going to fight Roman Torchwick. The fashionista's attention was drawn away from her own thoughts and towards the very obvious clicking of heels on the floor making their way towards her location. Coco ducked behind a statue and waited while they walked past her. As she was about to leave the room, Coco gave orders to her team.

"I have one in the Faunus Suite on the Ground Floor; that's everyone. Take them out as best you can, radio in once you're done."

"Understood Coco. Yatsuhashi out."

"Got it. Velvet out."

"Will do. Fox out." And with that, Coco stepped out from her hiding place and confronted the person in question.

"Y'know, heels might not have been the smartest choice for a heist." The rhythmic clicking stopped as the culprit turned to look at the second year student.

"Well, one of us has to look good doing this thing." Coco's eyes widened in shock, then promptly narrowed in anger as she dropped her stance slightly.

"See, now I've _got_ to hurt you." Fiery eyes glowed as Cinder smirked at the remark from the student.


	4. A Touchy Subject Matter

Yatsuhashi was the second team member to make himself known. He followed the footsteps out of the room and into the next and saw the man standing there. It looked like he was waiting for him, so the student mentioned it.

"Have you been expecting me?" Mercury turned himself around and gave an unsatisfied shrug.

"I guess. I have to be honest big guy, you're not the best at silent are you?"

"I can be when I choose to be."

"But clearly not when you need it. I heard your little talk to your team; they know I'm here and that you're with me. Which means you have no choice but to fight me." Yatsuhashi had no time to respond as the silver-grey haired boy fired his boots off and rocketed himself at his opponent. Mercury flipped halfway along the distance and almost collided with the tall student feet first were it not for the fact Yatsuhashi had already unsheathed his weapon from his back and brought it up to parry the strike. The impact was still forceful enough to send the student skidding backwards, but not enough to hurt him.

As the Greatsword pushed the strike away, two shots were fired from Mercury's boots catching him off guard and knocking him off balance. Mercury landed and jumped in for another strike. The tank had regained his composure by the time that came around and blocked each strike with a parry with his sword. Neither of them seemed to tire as kicks kept coming and parries met each kick. Every so often, Mercury leapt away and fired a few shots towards the student or the artwork around the place. Yatsuhashi was constantly in two minds whether he should take the shot to avoid the historical items being damaged or destroyed, or whether he should dodge the attack and risk ruining an artefact that had survived countless years of Atlas history.

In an effort to go on the offensive, Yatsuhashi parried Mercury's latest onslaught wide, knocking him off balance. This was his opportunity. He quickly charged at the smaller man and caught him with his shoulder, forcing the wind out of him, then swiftly swung the sword under as a rising strike with immense force which caught the boy in the stomach and slicing the skin slightly, the pure power behind that last strike caused a slight lapse in Mercury's concentration and prevented him from using his Aura to his fullest to block it completely. With one final attack Yatsuhashi grabbed Mercury by his head and slammed him down into the floor, knocking him out. The impact could be felt multiple floors underneath as both Roman and Velvet looked up in slight panic as the shockwave spread through the building, faint particles of dust and debris falling from the tiles on the ceiling. Roman caught a glimpse of the rabbit Faunus and smiled.

"Well, well, well; what do we have here? A cute little bunny came here to thwart me?" The student took a step back at the remark, offended by his words. But she remembered she couldn't run away else they would fail the mission. "Word of advice, leave me be. I'm here for something very particular, and I've been told I'm not to walking out of here without it, so I'll just be on my way."

"You're not going to be walking out of here at all. You're going to leave here in custody." He faked a gasp, clearly not intimidated by the threat.

"No, not custody! Anything but that!" The jokey façade disappeared just as suddenly as it appeared. "Listen bun-bun, I've been doing this thing for years now. I know how this works, and it never ends well for the likes of you. You will end up in hospital with broken bones at _best_. C'mon I'm giving you a chance to walk away scot free." Velvet looked down, her eyes obscured by her fringe. "Oh what's wrong bunny? Did I say something to upset you?" She stretched her arm to the side as a blue, hard light copy of Crescent Rose formed in her hand.

"Don't. EVER. Call me 'Bun-Bun' again." And she threw herself towards the man with such speed and ferocity that he barely managed to avoid getting smacked across the face with the uncharacteristically large scythe.

 _Even when you're not here, you still manage to piss me off, don'tcha Little Red?_ he thought, staring at the construct of the weapon.

Coco was in the same mind-set as Yatsuhashi was with regards to the artefacts in the room. She was much more of a ranged fighter, keeping Grimm at bay with barrage upon barrage of bullets from her Gatling gun whilst her more physical teammates rushed in and dealt with Grimm at a much more intimate level. Sure, she was capable at hand-to-hand combat, but it was never her bread and butter. And against someone like this whom she could only assume was a very skilled fighter she would much rather fall back to her comfort zone of really far away from them. But in doing that, she'd either risk her getting away - something that could happen in terms of the mission, but without a fight to prove she escaped rather than was allowed to get away, it'd look pretty bleak on the mission report - or she'd risk destroying everything in the room, and probably the neighbouring room as well.

 _I can't do that_ , she thought to herself. _The Museum wouldn't be too grateful, especially if they got away._

Her mouth dried. That was really uncomforting at this moment in time, she wanted to feel in control of this situation like she does on every other mission, not feel like she was right back at the very beginning of her training panicking about going against another student with zero training just as she was. And Cinder caught on to that air of panic.

"Oh, what's this?" The smirk she wore grew as she sauntered towards the gunner. "Where was that bravado from a second ago? I thought you 'had' to hurt me. If you can lay a finger on me, I'm here to be hurt." A frustrated grunt passed the lips of the dual-coloured hair girl as she ran towards the tattooed woman. Within four paces of her, Coco reached across to grab her handbag and in one fluid motion detached it from her belt and swung it at her opponent. The weapon was stopped by a hand which shocked a gasp out of the girl. As burning eyes glowed ever brighter and the tattoos began to match, Coco snapped back into reality - albeit seconds too late - as a burning palm came from behind the woman and impacted Coco square in the gut, closely followed by a powerful burst of flaming Aura from said palm sending the girl careening into a statue of the Founder of the Atlas Military, reducing the marble artwork into a mess on the floor. Straining through the pain that she now felt basically everywhere, the fashionista eased herself up. Her eyed stung because of the fine particles of marble dust that still floated about in the air and because her sunglasses were gone to stop them- Her Sunglasses! She searched around a little bit on the floor of her immediate vicinity before her stinging eyes rose to see her designer eye protection halfway across the room, right by the woman who created the distance between them. In an instant, those sunglasses were smashed under the heels of the woman in an effort to intimidate the girl.

 _Okay, fuck the Museum -_ ** _no one_** _touches my shit like that!_ She saw red as the small handbag unfolded revealing the huge Gatling gun that was housed inside.

Velvet's hard light weaponry and Roman's cane traded blows countless times. It was evident that Roman was the more skilled of the two fighters, but every time he started to gain the edge on her she'd swap out her weaponry and shifted the tide once more. It kept her versatile, it meant that people would need to adapt to so many different styles of fighting and that was usually a huge advantage. Another advantage to her abilities is that any projectiles don't cause damage to the surrounding area; they only affect what they need to. This meant that Velvet was the only one of her team who could use any sort of ranged weapon to keep her assailant at bay at the moment. As she swapped out Miló and Akoúo̱ for the grenade launcher that was Magnhild to open up some distance, streams of bullets fired up from the floor below, tearing through the (surprisingly thin and weak) floor/roof and caused a few things to come crashing down to Ground Level; Roman and Velvet being two such things. The partners stood side by side ready to take on the two crooks as a team.

Fox and Emerald's blades clashed over and over again. Each strike one made, the other countered perfectly. It was like a dance, only with less sequins and more aggression. They clashed once more, blades interlocking in a constant struggle as they goaded one another.

"Why don't you just give up kid?" Emerald quipped.

"Because I don't back away from a fight I know that I'll win!" Fox retorted.

"Funny, because I was thinking the same thing; but we can't both get our way!" She dropped her stance slightly and released the pushed she held quite evenly with Fox, causing him to stumble forward. With her opponent's centre of gravity all over the place she seized her moment, bringing her foot up to meet his chest and throwing him over her own head. Fox hit the wall with an impactful thud, but managed not to be so winded that he couldn't stand afterwards as he slid down to floor level. The girl's red eyes narrowed and focussed on Fox.

_I'll run towards the door with speed which, in his semi-winded state, he won't be able to keep up with. I'll lead him on a chase as far away from the artefact as I can get him before he realised it was never the case._

Only that didn't happen.

Instead, Fox attacked her directly once again. The attack struck her hard across the ribs, shifting her focus back to the fight at hand.

"What?" She cried in frustration as her sickles stopped herself from bearing the brunt of another one of this boy's attacks. She found another opening in his attack pattern and forced him away, trying her trick again.

_I'll try something more offensive this time. This time I'll jump onto the jump up high and fire down on him from above, forcing him to hide away from being hit. When he can't see where she is anymore, I'll sneak away and find my way to the Parchment of Volentes again._

That didn't happen either.

She felt the scarred elbow impact her right across the jaw, blurring her vision and sending pain to flow throughout her face.

"How does that not work on you?!" crying out again in anger.

"You _were_ trying something. I assume you were trying to cloud my vision, make it so that I could see how you wanted things to play out? Well," he walked towards her, his eyes finally in enough natural night light so that Emerald could see them "if I could see, that might have been effective." His gloat was cut short by the sound of footsteps running past him at a pace. He sensed quickly and realised that there was a second person with him, most likely heading straight for the artefact; the artefact that was on this floor.

"Neo! What are you-?" her sentence was cut short as Fox quickly but effectively delivered one more powerful strike to the girl's head, not exactly knocking her unconscious but rendering her brain frazzled long enough that Fox could run after this new person.

"Fox here; I've dealt with mine, but there's another with me up here and I think they're making their way straight to the artefact. I'm going after them."

"I can be of assistance to you Fox, are you still in the Great War Wing?"

"No time for that Yatsu! I'm following this person and I'm stopping them alone." Coco chimed in as she found room to breathe from the mini-battle she and Velvet were having on the Ground Floor.

"I don't think that's wise Fox." The boy elected to ignore the response from his own team leader, instead continuing as if her comment fell on deaf ears.

"The person I was with is currently incapacitated by the Armour Display in Room 2G, I believe she said this one's name was 'Neo'. Fetch them Yatsu, and then help Coco or Velvet out!"

"Fox, you ought to have Yatsuhashi with you. We're fighting two on two here, Velvet and I coping. And _I_ give the orders Fox, not you."

"Three against two sounds better odds to me."

"As do two against one Fox. Yatsuhashi; I'm ordering you to go and assist Fox in stopping Neo from-"

"NO! If we're all together in here we might die tonight. Stay as far away from me as you can!"

"Fox, wai-" Before the words had even finished leaving the girl's mouth, Fox's ear piece was taken out and his line went dead. "Damn it Fox!"

The copper haired boy knew it was a risky move, but at the end of the day he remembered his dream / vision more vividly than anyone else. He remembered very clearly how they all died this night if they didn't stop these people getting their hands on the Parchment. He expanded his Aura for his semblance to work and saw briefly the footsteps of the person he was following, and also the outline of them and their Aura very faintly behind a few walls as they'd already gotten a decent lead on him due to the conversation he had with his team. This was a short girl, smaller than either of his two female teammates. She was fairly nimble, but compared to Fox her speed was second rate. Also, given he had longer legs, he could close the distance very easily.

That was, if this place wasn't such a maze.

Fox opted not to decide whether the maze-like layout of this floor, or indeed the whole Museum, would play to his benefit or hers. Instead, he focussed on getting to her. He had memorised the layout fairly well, so unless things had been moved in the time between now and when he was last there he could very easily navigate his way through the floor. Plus, he knew shortcuts and secret staff entrances that this girl didn't. He let out another burst, seeing her petite figure much clearer now. He had closed the distance significantly since he first looked for it. Her Aura was most unusual; it sat perfectly still inside of her. Aura's normally express themselves much as a person or Faunus would do. This one sat unmoving inside. Also, this Aura changed hues in a consistent cycle from pink to brown then back to pink, fading through to ivory at the mid-point of every transition.

He was intrigued.

She was lost.

There were so many exhibits on this one floor that she found it hard _not_ to get lost without a map. A map she didn't have, but knew that there'd be one somewhere around here. Somewhere she'd need a map to get to in the first place. The never-ending conundrum caused the ice cream girl to grab her hair and yank ever so slightly. If she didn't love it so much, she probably would have started tearing strips out of it. But that also would have given the boy she ran past even more clues to find her. He was probably lost as well.

"Lost are we?" If she could make a noise, there probably would have been an "Eep!" as she turned round promptly, the terror causing her eyes to blink to a matching vanilla white colour. She saw the boy again. She could take him down easily, but her mind wasn't exactly in the right place at the moment. She opted instead to create an illusion and have it shatter into many pieces as her true self ran away to find her objective. But two painfully short minutes later she was greeted by the same boy once again.

"You cannot run from me. I can see your Aura, so I know where you are at all times."

 _Creep,_ she thought to herself at his blasé admission.

"Fox!" A deep voice boomed over the blind student's shoulder as Yatsuhashi came around the corner into view, having disregarded Fox's insistence on him staying away and following Coco's direct order to do so. Fox tried to sound angry, but a hint of panic came across as well.

"I told you to stay away from me; I don't want anything to happen!"

"Fox, look out!" Too late; the rear end of a parasol made contact with the chest of the boy and shot him back into his tall teammate. Seeing them tangled up, Neo turned round to sprint away anywhere before her eyes spotted the sign she'd been waiting to see:

~New Exhibit! Come see the Parchment of Volentes Today~

She ran as fast as her legs would carry her towards that sign. Fox cursed in anger, untangled himself from his partner and jumped on and over artefact after artefact to close the distance as fast as he could. She was close and he was not going to let her get that item. He jumped to a hidden door to one side of the entrance that would minimise the distance.

She entered the room and saw the stand that stored this item. It was a small hexagonal prism of gold with deep, powerful blue details engraved into its faces.

 _There it is Neo. Grab it!_ She picked up into a full on sprint, making a beeline for the case. She flung the closest small item to her at the case with her parasol to shatter the glass so that she could just grab the item and be on her way.

"Stop!" Fox had left his passageway and came out off to one side and a slightly shorter distance away from the item than Neo was. That said, she was already in motion. He started sprinting as well, knowing that her touch could spell doom for him and everyone else as she asks for her wish.

Her eyes darted between the inanimate object on the pedestal and the fast approaching boy on her left side.

He focussed on intercepting her before she came close to touching that thing.

When she got close enough, Neo jumped for it.

Realising there was no other choice, Fox readjusted his actions and made a jump for the Parchment of Volentes too.

Something happened that night that had never happened before.

Two people touched the artefact at the same time.

Fox and Neo felt a pain that could not be put into words. All that escaped to describe it was a roaring cry of utter agony from the blind boy. Had she been able to speak, Neo's cries would have most likely been equally as soul scaring. All ears listened to that cry. It haunted the Museum, staying far longer than it needed to. Coco and Velvet cried out Fox's name and left their battle to make their way to him. Cinder and Roman saw their opportunity and made their escape into the night. Mercury was there waiting for them with Emerald - the pair had regained enough motor control and stumbled their way out without either of their attackers noticing.

Yatsuhashi was first on the scene. He rushed over to both people on the floor, laying there motionless. He placed his two forefingers on the neck of the girl, then the neck of his teammate. He paid close attention to the chest of his teammate whilst he politely opted to merely feel for breath from the girl. As the two girls made their way into the room, the gentle giant of Team CFVY stood as they approached and opened his arms to the girls as they rushed into him. His embrace spoke the words his mouth failed to, but they were words he wished never to speak anyway. The emotional Faunus started bawling at the silent news the hug told her, their team leader joining her girlfriend in sorrow. As tears started escaping from Yatsuhashi's eyes as well, his voice mustered up the courage to speak, but not without it cracking at what was to be said.

"I'm sorry, we can't save them."


	5. The Debrief No One Wanted

 

The journey back to Beacon was not one they enjoyed. Not only because it was felt so long but because they were doing it one teammate down, and that was how it would always be from now on. Despite not packing very much, Fox's belongings carried far more emotional weight than they did physical. They sat there in the Bulldog, filling up the space he himself should have occupied, almost taunting the group with its presence and not his.

Yatsuhashi did not share the same side of the vehicle as the bag, opting instead to sit next to Velvet who felt like she had not stopped crying since they first entered the exhibition last night. He felt guilty not having got there faster, not being able to do anything to save him or the girl who he found dead next to him. Yatsuhashi felt he had dishonoured his friend's and teammate's legacy by not being there for him and as such remained in emotional self-exile until the situation could be resolved or at the very least handed over to someone else.

Coco's eyes were exposed for far longer than they had ever really been when she was awake and she hated it. Those were designer sunglasses, for one. But the main reason was that those pieces of reflective glass on her face would have hidden the fact that her eyes were betraying her something rotten. She was told when she was younger that she had the most expressive eyes that she'd ever seen, and that person wasn't kidding. So she hid those eyes away from everyone. And now those sunglasses were broken, until she got back to their dorm every person who cared to look at her could see the shame and sorrow in her puffy, dark brown eyes.

Much to the horror of the remainder of Team CFVY (a phrase they were going to have to get used to hearing for the next two years), there were a couple of their friends waiting for their arrival on the landing pads. Once the aircraft had touched down, neither one of the three wanted to be the first one to leave.

"What'll they all say Coco?" Velvet shuddered, tears building in the corners of her brown eyes.

"I..." she was going to attempt a coherent response fitting of a leader. "They will be supportive. And that's what they will all try to do. We will have to accept their help until we don't want it. We will..." nope, not happening anymore - though she made more progress than she thought she would. Now the act had worn off, all she could come up with were words of a broken hearted friend. "We will treasure his memory. All of us. As a team. For Fox." Yatsuhashi wrapped his arms around his teammates once again as they embraced in a small hug of their own. Once they finished, Coco made the first leap and opened the door out onto the landing pad. Once all three of them were out, the first of the unofficial welcoming party walked up to them.

"Hey guys!" the brunette chirped. "How'd it all go? Where's Fox?" Velvet cringed at that name, though not necessarily voluntarily. Silver eyes looked puzzled as the rest of her team walked up behind her. The two Faunus girls met, the younger of the two resting her hands on Velvet's shoulders.

"Velvet, what happened?" With no filter on her emotions once again, Velvet broke down and threw her arms around her feline friend. Amber eyes looked confused at the action taken, looking towards the bunny's girlfriend for some ideas on how to remove her.

"Fox is dead." Coco's head and heart hurt saying those words. The truth hurt. Eyes widened and rather than wanting to remove her anymore, Velvet felt herself getting lowered down to the ground as Blake made it easier for her study-buddy to cry to her heart's content. Yang's cool and collected demeanour was gone, leaving a scared little girl in her wake. Fox was a great inspiration to her, he was a very physical fighter and his weapons were essentially made for hand-to-hand combat, much like Ember Celica. He'd even been convinced on a couple of occasions to spar with the blonde and showed her a few techniques to help improve her prowess when up close. Now he was gone, and the fact that someone so much stronger than her could die like that hit her like a charging Boarbatusk. The girls and Yatsuhashi all shared their moment of grief before Team RWBY let the bereaved debrief in Ozpin's office.

This was not going to be fun.

Everything seemed different. Walking through the base of the tower took far longer than it normally did. The elevator seemed so much smaller and ascended the tower really slowly. Ozpin's office appeared to be no different in size, yet the three students quietly agreed that the ticking of the cogs rang far too loud for their liking.

"Good morning you three." They sat in the chairs provided for them in silence, offering only a nod as their response. "For the most part you all did extremely well on this mission, your method of planning clearly pays off very well Ms. Adel. I will admit, the information I had received regarding their plans stated that they're only be three or four of them and that may have thrown you all off a little bit."

"A little?" Coco snapped, her emotions very raw still. "Sir, we lost one of our team because of that. Fox is _dead_ because of poor information!"

"I am aware of that and I was going to get onto that subject soon, but I-"

"But nothing!"

"Coco, please don't," her girlfriend pleaded, resting a soft hand on the fashionista's own. Expressive eyes still stared at her Headmaster as she fell back in her chair, easing off the offensive.

"Which one of you three were the first to get there?"

"That would be me, sir." Yatsuhashi's voice, while still very deep, was weak and fragile in comparison to how it normally sounds.

"What did you see in the exhibit when you first got there?"

"I saw Fox and the woman he was chasing laying on the floor. They were-" he was cut off by Ozpin, a gesture which irked the team leader.

"No, not them. What did you see in the _exhibit?_ What was and wasn't there?"

"Sorry. Um... the artefact's glass case was shattered and the Parchment was gone..." In saying that sentence the tank realised where the green clad man may have been heading with this; they had actually failed their mission to protect the Parchment of Volentes and they did not know where it was any more.

"Correct. I had tasked you with protecting the item; an item that has now disappeared once again. You did not capture any members of the group who attacked the place, although considering the world has not yet ended I can only assume that they did not leave with the artefact. And now you sit here having lost a teammate, having another woman's death on your shoulders, and tens of thousands of Lien worth of property and historical damage, the latter of which can't be replaced, mounted against you. And until Professor Goodwitch has returned from her leave, there is no way that damage can be reversed. So, how would you rate your mission?" He was kidding, right? Coco remained silent this time, but gave it a solid three out of ten in her head. "And whilst I had promised to inform you about the artefact in more detail upon de-brief, I can see that now is not the best time to do that." He took a sip and finished the de-brief. "Very well. I expect to see you all in classes again tomorrow morning and your Mission Report on my desk by the end of the week Ms. Adel."

 _Okay, no. Say something Adel._ "Sir, we have lost a teammate!"

"I am aware that is your case at the moment."

"Surely we ought to have some time to grieve and try to adjust to being a three person team. Or at least go and see him one last time at the hospital. You can't expect us to continue on as if nothing had happened!"

"No? Ms. Adel had your team performed to the much higher standard I know you are all capable of then I might have considered allowing a day or two for grieving. However, you did not. Therefore, I will not."

"That is bullshit sir!"

"A reminder Ms. Adel of who you are speaking to."

"I don't care! You can't and you won't stop us from going to see Fox! We _may_ be back in classes tomorrow, but if we are I'm sure as hell not going to be happy about it." With that, Coco stormed towards the elevator. Yatsuhashi and Velvet followed suit, saying nothing. As the metal doors slid closed, the heat of the moment passed by and Coco realised her words and actions. As they neared the ground floor her breathing became heavier and tears started pooling up. Not five steps out of the elevator; she collapsed to her knees and started sobbing, her partner and teammate both there beside her to comfort her.

They made a quick stop to their dorm to drop their stuff off and pick up a few items, such as a new pair of sunglasses and a load of tissues, before they were going to head back to a landing pad and ride the next airbus towards the Vale Hospital. Outside their dorm door lay a single small bouquet and a box of chocolates with a note.

~Stay strong. We won't tell until you're ready. Team RWBY~

"Those girls..." Velvet chuckled, a sound that brightened her partner's mood as well. They prepared themselves and headed back to the pads near the front of the school. By the time they'd get there, they should have roughly 45-50 minutes to be with him before they'd need to be back. Plenty of time to bid their friend a proper goodbye.


	6. The First/Last Time We Met

 

Vale Hospital was quite a spectacle. In terms of how it looked, it was almost like the architect had spent so much time in Atlas that he decided he wanted to replicate their designs in this work. The building was a sleek and pristine white, standing alone on a slight hill in the middle between Eastern and Western Vale. Inside, all the design matched the same; it was clean and it was beautiful to look at despite the fact that hospitals aren't exactly the kind of place you want to go to for admiring.

Team CFVY slowly made their way through the Visitor Entrance of the building and walked up to the desk. Sitting behind was a young male with piercing deep-sea green eyes, pale complexion and blond hair, and a much darker skinned and slightly older woman with slit apple green eyes and faint scales decorating her neck. Velvet hadn't seen a Reptile Faunus in a long while, much less a Snake one.

"Hello, welcome to the Vale Hospital. How can I help?" Despite appearances, the woman was very friendly and considerate. When Coco informed her that they were the teammates of the scarred boy who might have come in earlier today or late yesterday with a small woman, she asked one of her colleagues to escort them there whilst giving them the directions as well in case they got split up. She wished the three of them luck through a fake smile; not because that was her job, but because she knew they needed someone to be strong for them.

The staff member stopped the team in the waiting room down the hallway from where their teammates were being kept. Yatsuhashi politely informed her that only the boy was their teammate, the other was someone who was caught in the crossfire. He apologised for assuming then left to go see whether they were ready for them. As he left, a tall man entered the room they were in from the door the nurse was heading. He wore a sharp, slim-cut three piece blue suit with a deep navy - almost black - pair of brogues, an off-white shirt and a thick purple striped tie. He spotted the three of them and crossed the room to see them, his walk equal parts elegant and powerful. Coco couldn't help notice the fact he always kept his left hand grasping his left lapel as if either thing were going to fall off should he let go. He spoke with a smooth voice, but one that clearly had experience.

"Daerk DeVanta. I take it you are the teammates of the two down the hall?" Yatsuhashi repeated his previous comments to this man.

"Just the boy. The woman happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. She suffered as well."

"I see. Well, I am scientist by trade, but an archaeologist in my spare time. I deal with objects from times long before-"

"We know what archaeologists are and do," Coco interrupted bluntly. The man's cornflower blue eyes shot the snappy team leader a glance as he continued.

"As I was saying, I deal with items from times long before Man and even before Grimm. And one such item I had been keen on seeing was the Parchment of Volentes and its properties. Unfortunately for me, I believe it has since been bonded to the soul of either your teammate or your not-teammate. Or both, which makes it difficult. But there may be a chance to examine the effects it had on their bodies, if only you name your price." He grabbed a blue book from his pocket with a golden trim on one edge and a pen, also with gold, from another pocket and proceeded to start scribbling. "Of course, the more time we waste, the less chance I have of finding out what the source of that mystical power is."

Coco was, understandably, confused by the cryptids the man spoke in. "Price? Mystical power? What are you on about?"

"Well, if they are dead - which they seem to be - you have no use for them. I do. And I do not have the time to explain the intricacies of the Parchment of Volentes, so I'll just say it's magic. How much do you want for the bodies?" As the two girls realised the implications behind what this man was saying, Yatsuhashi rose from his seat at a pace and closed the gap fast, grabbing the man by the collar and hauling him up into the air, his feet flapping about like a dog trying to swim. Being the 7ft tall giant he was, Daerk's head sat nicely on the ceiling of the room 3 metres above the floor.

"Fox Alistair is not some random cadaver you can pull apart. He was, and still is, my brother. I will defend him and his honour until I pass on from this world. You will not lay a finger on him, nor on the woman - she is under my protection now too. You will leave this ward and you will not return, else next time I won't be so gentle." The explosion of anger frightened many of the people present, Coco and Velvet among them. Yatsu was a calm, gentle giant. He got serious when in a fight, but never in the time they'd known him have they seen him get angry like this. But they also knew that his anger was subsiding, so decided it was best for them to not interfere.

"Okay, okay you have my word. Just, put me down." The student obliged, opening his hands. Daerk dropped to the floor with a thud. He stood, brushed himself off, straightened his tie and marched away. Once he was sure the man was gone, Yatsuhashi turned to the rest of the room.

"I apologise for my outburst. It will not happen again." With a slight bow, he sat down once again. His teammates gave him an approving look, but Coco's mind shifted slightly upon recalling his words.

"Both of them?" The tank nodded.

"She must have been a Huntress as well. Even if her motives were skewed, she had at some point trained to protect us all. We owe it to her to grant her the respect a Huntress deserves so that her spirit may be at peace, even if her actions in our world were unruly." Coco let out a small giggle and lightly punched his arm.

"Ever the philosopher, eh Yatsu?" The man smiled at his friend and leader, happy at the fact she had looked past his outburst and saw the emotion behind it.

* * *

Team CFVY were called to the room that Fox was in by the nurse that walked them here. Emotions greyed as they walked through the doorway and saw him.

Nothing about him had changed.

He still remained motionless.

Still not breathing.

Still dead.

"He's not dead." All three students looked towards the source of that voice. The doctor, a larger lady with pink hair, spoke again. "Given all the signs and symptoms - nothing's virtually across the board - he _is_ dead. But it seems his brain refuses to go." The small Faunus girl looked at her teammate on the bed in equal parts wonder and pain. By technicality alone Fox wasn't dead. But 'technically not dead' wasn't enough for her. He was either alive or dead, and she didn't want there to be a third option. The gunner, who was much less versed in the intricate details of the medicinal world than her girlfriend and tank of a teammate, needed some clarification on the whole scenario.

"Sorry, how can his brain stay alive when he's got no pulse?"

"Honestly Miss, I'm asking myself that question as well." She took out a few x-rays and photographs from the clipboard hanging off the end of Fox's bed and handed them to the team. "You see on those images?" The image she was pointing to showed a large mass of colour in the scan of Fox's brain. "And compared to the scan of someone else who is braindead," this image showed next to no colour at all, "my only explanation is that he is not braindead. Neither is the girl, she is showing the exact same readings for everything we do. The fact that their brains can both survive with zero oxygen is simply amazing."

"So, is he in some sort of coma? Can he hear us?" The doctor scratched the back of her head in uncertainty at the Faunus' question.

"I couldn't tell you. No one could; this has never happened before. Your guess is as good as mine. Which reminds me unfortunately, whilst you're here..." they stared at her, everyone dreading the words that were going to escape her mouth. "...we're fairly certain that the pair of them would remain in this state indefinitely. There's been absolutely no fluctuation in their brain activity since we've had them hooked up to the monitors and that is likely to remain the same. We wanted to get your opinion on whether or not we should pull the plug on them or not."

"What?!" the fashionista shouted. "How can you...?"

"I know it's not exactly what anyone wants to hear. After all, he is your teammate. But knowing that this would be his way of living for what we can only assume to be an eternity, wouldn't you think it merciful to end their suffering sooner rather than later? I'd hate to think what it's like to be trapped inside your own body; unable to move but still aware of everything. All this machine is doing is keeping his brain activity level." There was silence in the room, save for the quiet, constant beep that Velvet heard on the heart monitor indicating that there was no pulse. They turned the volume on it right down so that they could work around him in peace and not be driven insane by a constant mid/high pitched noise droning in their ears. The Faunus spoke first.

"Turn it off."

"Velvet! What are you saying?"

"I'm saying 'Turn it off', Coco. I don't want him to suffer - he's done enough of that in his life. Remember his nightmares - what was the name he gave to the monster?" The emotional stress the rabbit was going through didn't just bring forward the scared emotions, but also it seems her more aggressive ones as well.

"He called it The Nothing."

"And what did he describe The Nothing to be like?"

"A..." Coco connected the dots and saw Velvet's reasoning behind her words. She complied, finishing the answer. "A void that consumed everything that he held close to him." The beret wearing girl removed her sunglasses, revealing her teary brown eyes to her team and the doctor. "I'm with Velvet. I don't want him to suffer any more."

"I, too, am in agreement with this."

"Very well guys. And what about the girl? She with you?"

"She was not, no. But ridding one of this torture and not the other would not sit right on my soul. I vote that we do the same with Neo."

"Agreed", replied their leader as the Faunus nodded, giving her approval.

"Sure thing. I'll give you some time to say anything you want to say." With that, the doctor left the room, leaving only Team CFVY together once more. No one spoke once more, the only sounds once again being a monotonous beeping and the occasional sniffle from someone trying to keep their emotions in check.

Yatsuhashi spoke first, kneeling down beside his partner. "I wish that I could have been there for you at the end Fox. I honestly believe this may not have happened were I faster or stronger. But I must not dwell on the past, for it has happened. I must move on, as must we all. But never will we forget you." He rested his left hand over Fox's heart and his right over his own. "Until we meet again, brother _._ " A tear fell from his eyes as he stood up and let Velvet come closer to the boy.

"Hey Fox. Listen, I always looked up to you as a brother. You and I were so alike, yet couldn't be more different - we had both been discriminated against for things that were beyond our control and yet we fought through it all and came out stronger on the other side every time. I'm going to keep doing that for you, keep fighting. I'm going to miss you Fox. I am!" She pulled herself away and jumped to Yatsuhashi as the tears began to flow once more. Their team leader sat down on the bed facing the boy.

"..." No words passed her lips, no matter how hard she tried. Every time she exhaled, she felt the emotions start to build inside. And she let them. She remained in silence until there were tears running down her face and her emotions were high before she spoke, hoping that the moment would find the words her brain couldn't. "I'm sorry Fox!" She darted down to hug the boy, arms wrapped around his neck and her head resting in the crook of his shoulder. "I am so sorry for what I said. The last thing I did was I shouted at you and that was wrong and I want to take it back. Damn it, I would take it all back! I wouldn't even dream of going on this mission knowing that I'd lose you at the end. I don't know what to do Fox! I'm down a teammate and I'll always think you're there or you've got hurt and that'll just send me into a fritz and..." she removed her head from his shoulder to look at his face. "...and I can't do that again, and risk losing another one of you." She moved his hair out of the way, leaned in and placed a long, hard kiss on the scarred forehead of the boy. "Goodbye." And then Coco left the room sobbing. Velvet followed to make sure that she didn't do something irrational in grief. Yatsuhashi exited that room and entered the one next door.

Neo lay there in the exact same position as Fox. With the exact same predicament. They were mirror images of one another in that regard. He looked at the medical reports on the end of the bed to confirm his suspicions. Identical, except she also had Differing Aura Glow Syndrome [DAG Syndrome], a very rare but nonfatal disorder; he'd only heard of one other case in his lifetime from Atlas many years ago. Yatsuhashi put the documents back then once again went to kneel down next to the bed as he did with Fox, only this time he stopped. Instead, he sat on the edge of the bed much like Coco did. There was nothing he could think of to say, so he just started speaking.

"I do not know you, Neo. I know nothing of your past. I have never seen nor heard of you before yesterday. The only things I know are that Fox told me your name was Neo, and that you are as good as dead. And yet your mind still fights on, just as Fox's does." He shifted his weight to look more at the girl he was speaking to. "You are strong, much like Fox is. And I cannot begin to imagine what it is like inside your head right now, but know that I have sworn to myself that I would protect you from harm. Someone wanted to buy your body and cut it open to see what effect touching that artefact did to you and Fox. I will not let that happen. You are a stranger to me, but you deserve to be remembered like a Huntress. You and Fox shall be buried next to one another, so that your souls may live on together in the next world as you died in this." Yatsuhashi felt another tear falling down his cheek. He wiped it away and rose from the bed. With one last look, he left the room and waited outside for the doctors to return.

"It's going to be fine Coco." Velvet tried reassuring her partner countless times, but the emotions kept coming even when she herself wanted them to stop. "We are going to manage." Yatsuhashi entered the little secluded room with them, shutting the door and sealing them off from the world. He eased his way down on to both of his knees and extended his arms open for the two girls to hug him. Coco jumped at him, almost knocking him over. Velvet just listened outside; her acute hearing coming in handy.

There was nothing out of the ordinary, until she heard two plugs being pulled. That was it; Fox and Neo were unplugged and would most likely be dead within the next few minutes. She shuffled in and joined the hug of her two teammates. But she broke it off very quickly as a sound caught her ear.

"Velvet," her girlfriend asked through sniffles, "what are you...?"

"Shh!" the rabbit Faunus ordered. There was nothing for another while, but when that sound returned again she gasped. Hearing a second one joining it sent her emotions everywhere and fled the room.

The sounds she heard?


	7. Just Like That, You're Readjusting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A combination of Chapters 7 & 8 from the original FFnet upload.

_Beep, beep_

Velvet ran as fast as her Faunus legs would take her, weaving in and out of staff and patients and visitors to get there.

_Beep, beep_

She wasn't making this up, that was definitely the sound she was hearing. And they were most definitely coming from the two rooms.

_Beep, beep, beep, beep_

They were alive. Fox and Neo were alive!

She got to the door and stared into the room to see Fox's heartrate being measured on the screen beside him. There was a nice, healthy pulse beating away. Before she even thought about going in to see him her feet took her out of that doorway and into the next. The exact same scenario, Neo was sitting upright staring around at everything in bewilderment, her pulse initially at the same bpm as Fox's was. Velvet couldn't even begin to think about how this all happened, but they were alive! At this point, that was all that mattered to her.

When Neo spotted Velvet staring at her from the door, her eyes - which the Faunus had to admit were the most beautiful case of Heterochromia she'd ever seen - blinked to a pale white and she tried to flee from her bed, her manic behaviour making her heartrate rise at an alarming pace to nearly double of what it was when Velvet first saw it. The rabbit girl just held her hands up and slowly walked towards the bed.

"Whoa, take it easy Neo." The girl quit her thrashing and focussed on the girl advancing. "Your name is Neo, right?" An eyebrow was raised at this new girl.

_How does she know my name? I've never told anyone my name._

"My name is Velvet. I'm a friend, just here to help."

 _Friend?_ Neo cocked her head to one side at that, a sign to Velvet that she was listening and understanding her. Her eyes changed back to their one brown, one pink as the girl sat on the side of her bed.

"What can you tell me about what you felt?"

 _I can't._ She pointed to her mouth, then zipped it shut - Universal Sign for {"I can't speak"}

"I need to know Neo. So that me and my team can help you."

Clearly, not everyone was versed in Universal Sign. _No,_ Neo thought, hoping her thoughts could magically project into this Faunus' mind to tell her she was wrong. _No I physically can't speak!_ She tried again, being extra careful to make sure her signs were coming across correctly.

"Please Neo. Just talk to me."

 _Oh for Oum's sake._ She looked around the room and spied the TV Remote as well as some paper she hoped would be spare. If it wasn't, oops. She pointed at them, then at herself.

"Do you want me to get those for you?"

 _Finally, some progress._ She nodded with a smile. Velvet obliged, grabbing the remote and the paper and also finding a pen for Neo to write with. Once she had been given all of those things, she tried one last time to give Velvet the hint she needed to figure out her condition.

First she pointed at herself. Then she pointed at the large 'Mute' button on the remote, then once again back at herself.

"Oh Dust, I'm sorry!" she cried, a little embarrassed at how long that took her to figure out. Neo just shrugged.

 _Hey, at least you got there in the end._ She started scribbling words down for Velvet to read; a much easier and sure fire way for her message to get across.

"What happened to the other guy?" it read. "Where is he?"

"Fox? Oh Fox!" Velvet stood up quickly and nearly ran out of the room before realising that it would be really rude to do so. "Come on, I'll show you. He's just next door." _Then_ she ran out of the room. Neo shrugged to herself, detached herself from the mass of electrical equipment and slowly shuffled her way out the door and round the corner. She had no reason to do this - the Faunus was someone she had barely known for a minute, and the person she was now going to see was someone stopping her from achieving her goal back at the museum. But here she was; shuffling her way down the corridor towards them. The hospital gown was not helping her realisation that it was really cold in here. She crossed her arms to cover the two very obvious signs on her chest that her body wasn't as a fan of the cold. She edged her way around the corner to see four students hugging and crying happy tears. Oum that must be a nice feeling.

"How did this happen?" Coco asked as Fox glanced in her direction.

"I… don't know," he offered. "I just... woke up." Fox tried explaining it to his teammates, but death seemed like it was one of those things that were completely indescribable, yet begging for an explanation at the same time.

Yatsuhashi sighed with confused relief. "But you died, Fox."

"I know, it's just as confusing to me as it is to-" he stopped when he eventually noticed a foreign Aura in the doorway.

Velvet spotted her and stood up to introduce the girl. "Guys, this is Neo. She's mute. Neo, meet Yatsuhashi and Coco. You've already had a run in with Fox, so I won't introduce you." The two students greeted the short woman with waves whilst the bedbound boy just looked directly in her general direction. His milky white eyes stared directly at her blankly. She felt really uncomfortable about it all.

 _~Please stop staring at me_ _Fox~,_ she thought. _~I don't like it~._

"Sorry, I can't help it sometimes." He turned his head away from her and towards Velvet. Neo's eyes widened. "I thought you said she was mute."

 _~I am mute~,_ she thought again.

"Then why can I hear you?"

"Fox, who are you talking to?"

"I'm talking to Neo, Yatsu. Can't you hear?"

 _~No, they can't.~  
_"No, we can't."

Everyone looked around at one another in confusion. Until everyone's thoughts lined up in perfect unison:

" **What?** "

* * *

Whilst she doubted it would be much of a shock to the four of them, Neo left the very first chance she had. She was cold, her nipples were chafing against the robe she was put in, and she felt so out of place there - the authorities may even stumble across her, even though she was technically dead now. At least that was a positive. But there was no way on Remnant she was going to stay in a room with a man who could hear her thoughts, especially one she thought was kind of cute...

_No! Shut up, shut up, shut up!_

The girl hit her head multiple times in an effort to knock the words out of her head like they were physical entities. _You're being ridiculous. You need to find the rest of them and stay out of it all for a while until you get a handle on what's going on._ She walked briskly along the streets of Vale, being careful not to stay on the same path for too long. She never felt safe anymore. Even with the people she once considered "friends" were now nothing more than a constant reminder of how lonely and vulnerable she felt.

As the abandoned warehouse they often frequented approached, the woman felt a strange unease wash over her.

 _Why are you stopping? These were people we can trust, why would... you..._ Her thoughts ground to a slow and painful halt as she began hearing Roman and Cinder's voices, along with two other pairs of footsteps following that were most likely Mercury and Emerald. In a panic, Neo hid behind one of the large dumpsters she knew they wouldn't check behind.

"...it's a good thing, right?" Roman finished.

"Well of course it is. I honestly have no idea why you even brought her along in the first place."

"Well, Neo didn't exactly give me a choice." Dual coloured eyes widened as she listened more intently. What were they saying about her? "I mean, the imp started following me one day and stuck there like a shadow or a bad smell. She showed some skill when there were a couple of idiots who tried to attack her so I thought she may be of use to us. At first, yeah. But by the end she was-"

"A nuisance" Mercury jumped in.

"Reckless and irresponsible" added Emerald.

"A liability." As Cinder rounded of the list, Neo's heart sunk. She'd always thought these were people who she could be with and have some fun with, but they clearly thought otherwise.

"Really, I'm _glad_ that she's dead." Had she had the ability to do so, the ice cream girl would have gasped. There were no objections from the remaining three people there.

 _They would rather have me dead then have me there. They're not friends at all._ Tears welled up in her eyes as she got up and ran as fast and as hard as she could away from this horrible place and these horrible people. As the four of them were entering the warehouse, Mercury turned to see the petite girl running away with her head in her hands, clearly crying. Her pain at his words brought him joy; he smirked an evil and knowing smirk, then joined his friends inside.

* * *

There were very clearly some wild emotions flying about when Fox showed up at Beacon late that evening. Team RWBY felt like the sympathy they showed the more senior students earlier was for nothing and they were understandably annoyed, especially Ruby.

"What are you even trying to imply Ruby?" Coco asked, frustrated at the small girl's lack of structure in everything she had tried to convey over the last five minutes.

"What do you think?!"

"I don't know; that's why I'm asking."

"You told us Fox was dead! Was this a way to pull on my team's heartstrings? Because I'm the only one who is allowed to do that sort of thing to Weiss!"

"Excuse me, what?!" the Heiress cried.

"Shush. Let me finish." The white haired girl flushed a strong red and pinched the bridge of her nose as her partner continued. Yang nudged her smaller teammate with her elbow and smiled at her in a cheeky and crafty way, meaning another, much louder sigh escaped from the girl. The blonde had long since passed caring about the original topic of conversation and instead focussing on the hilarity that was not only her sister trying to be imposing, but also the unintentional slip of her feelings for Weiss, and the girl's response indicating her feelings were returned, even if she wasn't aware of the fact herself yet. She was going to have a long conversation with them later about that. "Why did you say he was dead?"

"Because Ruby," the boy in question stepped forward as he continued, "in their eyes, I was. Yatsuhashi felt no pulse and saw no breathing. If one of your team were laying motionless on the floor not breathing and without a pulse, what would you think? Besides, it was only after they got me to the Hospital that the doctors realised that my brain was still functioning after all, so they hooked me up to machines to keep me stable and monitor me. Then my team turned up and voted to switch the machines off. My brain did slowly give up stop, but then it started again the instant I was teetering on the edge of mortality. And now I am back."

"Yeah but... how... but..." Fox had explained everything so well that Ruby didn't have a counter argument any more. Which sucked, because she still had pent up anger to let loose on someone or something.

"It is okay Ruby; your team's sentiments were just. I also understand your frustration; but I truly did believe my partner to be dead when we first arrived back at Beacon. I wish not to quarrel with you or your team on the matter anymore. Perhaps, if my leader agrees to this, we can repay you in some way for misleading your feelings."

"Yeah, I'm with Yatsu on that one. We will be happy to do something for you as recompense for this." Ruby's face lit up slightly at the sentiment, her anger fading away to be unleashed on some other poor soul in the future.

"Okay, I'm fine with that." She turned away to leave with her team. She didn't apologise for the outburst, but Coco deemed it justified and could let it slide. As the first year team walked off, Yang walked between her two smaller teammates and threw an arm around each of their shoulders.

"You have got a lot of explaining to do when we get back to the dorm, little sis." The anger started bubbling up again inside Ruby, and Weiss simple brought her arms across her stomach to close herself off from everyone.

Team CFVY made their way back to their own dorm as well.

"I'm going to be perfectly honest guys, the next few nights may be a bit rough," he said, closing the dorm door behind them. "I mean, I feel great at the moment but I have no idea if this peace will last."

"Fox, it's fine. Take your time to readjust. Spend the next few days away from classes if you need to - just take your time."

"Cheers Yatsu." Fox went to go lay on his bed before he turned to the rest of his team. "By the way, I heard everything."

"What do you mean?" Velvet queried, her nerves picking up ever so slightly. The messy haired boy just grinned.

"Let's just say something that you'll all understand; I forgive you, and I view you in the same way, _ani_." The Faunus and the boy's partner went over to the bed and initiated the team hug. Coco removed her sunglasses first and wiped away the tear that fell before she joined them.

"Damn it Fox, you keep this up and I won't have any tears left to cry." The brown coloured quartet all laughed together, a sound that brought all of their uneasy minds to a state of peace that they could live with for now.


	8. Cliffhanger

**KEY:**

_~Thought Talking~_

* * *

The next day, Fox took his partner's advice and stayed away from all classes that the rest of his team had. Coco wanted to join Fox, but Velvet and Yatsuhashi reminded her that she didn't come back from the dead yesterday. She reluctantly agreed, but also told the team that everyone gets that luxury if that happens to them. He spent the first few hours of the day resting - between the time he touched the Parchment and when he became conscious again, his brain was constantly working and as such it felt like it was never truly asleep - and after that he set out to go relax in the park once more. The weather today was not as nice as it was before he died, but it was still pleasant enough to warrant him staying there. His mind focussed on nothing in particular; if he wanted to listen to water flowing in and around the pond he would, if he'd rather pay attention to the birds flying overhead he could. He could take in the breeze flowing through the leaves of the tree he sat under, or the light footsteps approaching him, or the...

 _Great, who is it this time?_ "Hey, if you want to..." Before he even had a chance to continue the feet started hitting the ground much heavier and faster than earlier, clearly running away from his position. The boy took a whiff of the air to see if he could tell who it was from their scent as he didn't really feel like using his semblance to see. Vanilla. Not much else to go on really. He just shrugged and went back to relaxing.

The rest of the day and the following day consisted mostly of the same thing, although less sleeping, less relaxing and slightly more training, plus note taking nearer the end of the day. There also seemed to be that smell of vanilla every once in a while when he was outside of Beacon, but by the time he'd reacted and activated his semblance long enough to see its source the culprit and the main bulk of the scent scattered.

The third and final day he was going to be off before re-joining his team in classes he travelled out to an old training ground of his. The Cliffside was far beyond the Emerald Forest. It was precarious going there due to the high concentration of Nevermores that nested by the cliffs, the eroding battleground and, his favourite, rockslides. But that is truly why enjoyed going there; the uncertainty of the landscape meant he had to focus extra hard on his surroundings so that he didn't end up crushed by falling rocks. Three times is two times too many - he didn't know about them the first time so he always let himself off with that one. His first port of call was always sitting down in the middle of his training grounds and quickly getting a feel of the land, and this time was no exception. Only when he wandered to the spot he normally used to sit and feel out the land, the ground crumbled underneath him and Fox struggled ever so slightly to stop himself from falling off the newly moved cliff face 80m to his death.

"Guess the weather finely got to you, eh?" His training ground used to be about 50m from the smaller cliff face and entrance to his safe-ish space behind him to the definitely not safe drop to impending death that was the edge. Now, after a fairly lengthy and powerful storm Vale was hit with a fortnight before, the main cliff seemed to have crumbled away and left only 35m between the back wall and deadly fall. Still plenty of space.

After a gruelling thirty minutes of intense workout by Fox to get his stamina and reflexes up to a similar level they were at a week ago, the pained cry of a Nevermore rang through his ears. A Giant Nevermore, at that. He normally would ignore the grunts and roars of any type of Grimm unless it was right near him; the small archways that separated his own private cliff ledge and the treeline of the Emerald Forest could generally only fit a Boarbatusk or a younger Beowolf and nothing bigger though not many of them have had the sense to climb up the rocks on their side over the top and drop down on him, but hey - Grimm aren't known for having the most tactical of minds. This time however, he felt like he needed to focus on this one. He hadn't heard it swooping past him at all before, maybe due to his mind being so focussed on one thing he'd zoned out on everything else.

 _Didn't you learn your lesson Fox?_ he berated himself on the fact. _Don't lose focus on the larger picture._ But now, he burst his Aura out to better use his semblance. He used the sphere like radar and tried to hone in on any spots of flying darkness. He found the one he was looking for and...

"Oh shit!" His blank eyes widened in horror as he jumped out of the way, narrowly missing the slowly eroding carcass of the now-deceased flying Grimm crashing into the cliff behind him. Despite being dead, the body still made enough of an impact to cause an impromptu rockslide. Fox used the opportunity to make his way out. He dodged the first smaller rocks and fast moving pebbles that fell on him, then shifted his attention to the larger boulders that would inevitably start falling. The first three came down heavy, one being flung out much further away from the cliff than the others.

Great, a challenge.

Fox leapt onto the side of lowest one, then sprung to the one that was next to it. From that, he back flipped onto the furthest boulder before shooting himself almost directly upwards. The remaining six giant boulders that fell on his assent of the cliff made great moving stepping stones for the student, working on both his quicker, more instinctive decisions rather than pre-planned ones and to highlight the threat of making a huge mistake and plummeting to your doom or being crushed by rock. He admitted, he wasn't expecting those things to always be present at all times during his life, but it worked in the moment. As he landed on the top cliff face, rolling forward to lessen the impact on his legs even more than just letting his Aura soak the damage, Fox's ears heard a new sound for him. It wasn't a natural sound, nor was it mechanical. No it sounded like... rustling? His head looked up as he followed the sound roughly back to its source. After a minute, the sound reached his level and stopped, followed by three short footsteps to slow their movement to a halt and a decent smell of...

"Vanilla. So you've been following me the past couple of days?" Neo grinned at the boy, closing the parasol she so graciously floated down to the ground with.

 _~Of course it's me. We needed to talk.~_ She tested the water with that question, hoping he'd give a decent answer.

"Why?" Her grin dropped slightly; that was very generic and could have been a continuation of his own question. She needed a question that would give a really weird answer so that she knew he could hear her, the one she'd been using on everybody she dared to get close to in the past few days.

_~What question did I ask people again?~_

"I'm not sure. Why were you asking other people?"

_~It was so I can get them to answer very specifically so that I knew I wasn't going... oh... so you definitely can hear me then?~_

"Yeah. Wait, Neo?"

The woman smirked. ~ _Surprise, I guess.~_

"So, you are completely mute, right?" he questioned. "I'm not just some special case where you are just talking to me and not everyone else?"

_~Fox, you were there at the Hospital and know that's not the case - no one else could hear my thoughts but you.~_

"Hold on, your _thoughts?_ " That's ridiculous.

~ _Uh huh. In comparison to ever other sound you hear, how does my voice sound?_ ~

"I dunno. Sounds a little bit echo-y. Like you're actually inside my head."

~ _Maybe because we are._ ~ Fox's eyebrows arched at the statement as he attempted to walk towards her. ~ _No, no. I'll come to you - the rock's not exactly the most stable over here._ ~

"Well, that might be because of the Giant Nevermore you send crashing into the cliff."

~ _Sorry. I wanted to get your attention._ ~

"And you couldn't have done that in a _normal_ way? Why didn't you just call my name to get my attention?" Neo placed her hands on her hips as the boy realised his mistake. "Sorry."

~ _It's fine, your bunny rabbit forgot as well._ ~ The woman walked towards the boy and something happened that neither of them expected right as she reached where he stood. They felt... complete. Like the pair of them being apart from one another was suddenly the worst thing that ever happened to them, despite the fact they've known of each other for five days now. Neo threw her parasol down and suddenly tackled Fox in a passionate embrace that knocked him to the floor and brought her down with him.

This felt right, their bodies connected in this intimate moment. Their lips met and in that moment there was absolutely nowhere either would rather be - a glorious, cloudless Mid-Spring day on a Vale clifftop passionately making out with the person they felt complete with. Neo's arms wrapped around the taller boy's chest and under his arms, her hands rubbing against the scars on his back - the uneven skin feeling so inviting to her. Fox's arms hugged Neo's shoulders and one cupped the back of her head in the heat of passion bringing her closer to him. The intensity rose as the time progressed, lips parting so that tongues could meet as well, her hands moving ever closer to areas that no one else had ever touched before.

And just as suddenly as the impulses came, they vanished. Both party's eyes opened in horror at the scene that greeted them and they screamed - one externally and the other internally but both still loud in their ears - as they flew apart from one another as fast as their bodies would allow them.

"What the hell was that about?!" Fox cried.

~ _You think I know?_ ~ Neo thought, her confusion evident in the voice she had inside her head that Fox could hear. ~ _I don't know what happened any more than you do._ ~

" _That's_ your excuse? You threw yourself on top of me, started making out with me and you expect saying 'I don't know' is going to fool me?!"

~ _I'm sorry, but you were making out with me pretty heavily too! That was a two sided thing there, Fox!_ ~ Her thoughts were manifesting in mental shouts that the boy could very clearly hear.

"If that was your reason for coming out here, then you are a sick and twisted little woman!" And Fox turned to leave, lowering his stance to run off.

~ _Fox, no! That wasn't the reason I-_ ~

"Well whatever it was, you blew your chance to say it! Stay away from me!" Fox pushed off hard with his right foot, took three powerful steps and flung himself into the nearest treetop, hopping from one to the other at breakneck speeds to get as far away from the cliff as fast as he could.

Neo fell to her knees, on the brink of defeat. She'd lost those she'd deemed her friends earlier this week and now something happened that had destroyed any chance of making new ones. The duel haired woman slammed her hands on the ground multiple times in sheer rage, cracking the rocks underneath the grass due to the immense forces rapidly applied on those two particular areas in the last few seconds. Tears streamed from her eyes of pink and brown. If she could do so, she would have screamed. Doing what she was doing was likely to attract Grimm to here anyway, so there wasn't much point of hiding her feelings. She found strength to lift herself off the ground and walk to her parasol. She picked it up and looked at it, then unsheathed the blade and drove it down into the rocks. Finally, she walked straight to the edge of the cliff. The rocks made uncomfortable noises; noises that most people would turn away from for fear that the ground underneath would give way. Neo was done, so she hoped that would be the case. She shuffled forward so that the tips of her boots hovered over the edge, her centre of balance sitting right behind the edge. As one final tear escaped from her eyes, she shut them and leaned.

Once the deed was past the point of no return, her eyes opened and she gasped despite the fact no sound accompanied it, and fell.

* * *

**{END OF ACT 1}**

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoying it? Well, as you can see, this is part 1 of a Series of Three stories. But, each series part will have it's own subsections, of which this is part one of.  
> Most of the story is already done and uploaded on Fanfiction.net as one single story: "Senseless". Give it a read if you're eager to read it all, or stick around for the rest here.


	9. Bedroom Thoughts-less

**KEY:**

"Speech"  
_Thought_  
{" _Sign Language_ "}  
_~Thought Talking~_  
**Scroll message**  
_*Scroll call*_

* * *

The next week and a half went by with very little drama. Fox started lessons back up again, having caught up on all of the work he'd missed while he was taking time to recover from death. Yatsuhashi mentioned he met someone really interesting a couple of days ago and has been hanging around with them a lot recently.

"So Yatsu."

"Yes Fox?"

"When am I gonna meet the girlfriend?"

"That is not what we are Fox", the giant assured his teammate. "She and I are just friends."

Fox rolled his milky white eyes. "Sure Yatsu. That's what they _all_ say."

"Well, it is the truth." Yatsuhashi's tone told Fox that this was the end of the conversation, and Fox allowed that. Didn't stop him from continuing in his head though.

 _I wish you wouldn't lie to me Yatsu, you hang around with them more than me and I can smell the perfume she wears on you._ Fox played along, because why not? If his friend was happy, he was happy for him.

**~000~**

Week three of being reborn and things were basically normal once again. Fox felt Yatsuhashi around a lot more recently this week; things obviously didn't work between the two of them. But Velvet was acting really weird recently. It started not soon after Yatsuhashi stopped seeing his new "friend".

"Hey, Fox?"

"What's up Velvet?"

"Would it be okay if I bring a study-buddy in here to work?"

"Why don't you use the library? It's where you go every other time you want to study; and isn't Blake your 'study-buddy' normally? Some trouble in paradise?"

"Oh hush Fox. A lot of the first year teams are off doing missions and things, Team RWBY being one of them."

 _All the more reason to go there then,_ he reasoned. "Sure, I don't mind. Just no kissing them." Fox winked in the general direction of the pair then proceeded to resume his book. Written in braille, of course. Unbeknownst to him, Velvet's study buddy blushed really quite hard at his comment and wink. But they said nothing.

**~000~**

A month after Velvet's new study-buddy showed up and there was silence in Team CFVY's dorm.

And not even silence because it was empty. Silence because no one was saying anything despite them all four members of Team CFVY, plus Velvet's & Coco's study-buddy (whose name is Cherry, apparently) were in the room. Five people in a single room and the only noise that was being made was whenever Fox turned the page. He felt the first six words on the page, and then caved in.

"Alright, I can't take it anymore." He slammed the book hard, causing Velvet and her study-buddy to jump. "Why is everyone so quiet around me all of a sudden? What's up with that? Someone, please explain."

"Fox... what happened with you and Neo, the day before you started classes up again?" Fox tensed at the name, he hadn't heard it being mentioned in ages ever since that incident.

"Two months ago Neo followed me out to where I used to train on the Cliffside, she hurled a Nevermore Alpha at me, then tried to make out with me so I ran away and haven't brought that up ever since." There was another long silence, but Coco answered in a rather odd way.

"Cherry wonders why you can't just speak with this Neo sort things out with her. As do I actually."

"Because that whole scenario was incredibly awkward for me and I'm not prepared to speak with her. Were I prepared to speak, I'd go to where she is and speak - but I don't know where she is so I can't even if I wanted to."

Silence. "Cherry wants to know if you've even asked anyone about where she is."

"No I haven't, Cherry. But tell me this, Cherry: what are you studying?"

"We're studying-"

"No, not you Coco. Or you Yatsu, or Velvet. Cherry." Silence. Fox could slightly make out the sounds of panicked flapping of arms from around the room, but instead remained focussed on his own question. "Cherry, your answer."

"Fox, she... can't speak," Velvet admitted. Scarred hands clenched into tight fists as he looked at the girl.

"5 weeks you've been in here. Why didn't you just say something to me? In here?" He heard the starts of hand movements from her position, signing her response to those who could see her before an all too familiar sound started ringing inside his head and spoke the words her hands made.

~ _Because you hurt me too.~_ He lowered his head, then spoke again to Neo.

"So what have you been doing in here?" 

"We've been helping Neo," Velvet replied instantly, something that startled the boy slightly. He had grown a little accustomed to having brief-to-uncomfortable pauses between the end of his sentence and the start of someone else's with "Cherry" in the room. "The first couple of weeks Yatsu had been helping her meditate."

"Neo explained to me in great detail about how the artefact could work - her boss collected a large amount of information on the item, more than we ever got provided with - and she mentioned what happened at the cliffs. She wanted to learn to purge her mind of those thoughts and hide herself from yours, so I taught her how to do that in just under a couple of weeks. I also taught her how to hide her Aura at her request as well."

"And during that time, Yatsu explained how challenging it was to communicate with someone when a conversation is so one sided. So he and I told her that we would like to be taught how to Sign, so that we could have a proper conversation with one another."

"I found out soon after, and I wanted to learn as well," Coco mentioned.

"She was lonely Fox. She wanted companionship, and we gave it to her." There was a pause as Neo was obviously signing something to the rest of them. "And she says she has never been happier in her life. But she wanted you to be there as well; only problem being the whole cliff thing may not have been a one-time thing. So using Yatsu's meditation techniques, we've been learning Sign Language in as close a proximity as Neo wanted to you so that she could be around you and not have any other... incidents."

"Okay." The blind boy raised his head and faced the mute girl in question. "But why couldn't _you_ tell me all of this now?" She didn't respond. Coco did.

"She was unwilling to run the risks. She'd much rather stay out of your head completely unless she _needs_ to."

"Okay." He seemed to have forgiven her for what transpired last time they were knowingly in each other's presence, yet he still felt a tad uneasy at their being this close to the other. "So, how long will that be for, if you're her friends now?"

"Actually, she mentioned once that you and she need to go and see Ozpin as soon as she was ready. She seems to think that he was withholding information from us during briefing and at the de-brief that could explain the minute details of how this works - and I think she is." Neo smiled at the fashionista, her way of saying that she is. The boy nodded his head, realising what that would intel but willing to do it if it meant figuring out how to stop it then he'd take the risk. He opened up his Scroll and rang up the Headmaster's Scroll.

 _*Good afternoon Mr Alistair,*_ Ozpin answered _. *I trust you are doing well.*_

"Yes sir, I am. Thank you. I was wondering if I could come and speak with you today? As late as possible."

_*Of course. I've been meaning to speak with you for some time now, but I felt that my initiating the conversation would be unjust, given the circumstances. I shall see you at 5:40pm.*_

"Thank you sir." He ended the call, then turned to leave. "If you'll forgive me, I'd much rather go read in the library. I'll see you at the Tower at 5:40pm Neo." After he had left, Neo started signing to her friends.

{" _Is he always like that when he's upset?_ "}

{" _Not always,_ "} replied Yatsuhashi, "{ _but he has a tendency to be a little irrational._ "}

{" _I see..._ "} The woman looked at the door once again, and for the first time since she walked in the room little over a month ago she let a thought pass through her mind. _Be_ _cause he's kind of cute when he's irritated._

* * *

Fox waited around for as long as he could before he started heading towards Beacon's Tower. His mind was still all over the place and he really did not want to be in the same place at the same time with Neo alone for any longer than he needed to. As he approached the Tower he felt Coco's presence already waiting there, along with Neo's again. She wasn't hiding her Aura anymore; she didn't need to. Fox approached in silence and walked past the two girls, going straight inside. Coco and Neo shared a concerned glance then hugged one another.

{" _Good luck in_ _there_ ,"} Coco signed. {" _Hope you get the answers you need_."}

{" _Thank you Coco._ "} The woman hurried in after the boy, who was already halfway through the Tower before she had even entered. By the time she'd caught up with him, he had pressed the elevator button and was waiting for the doors to open. As she got right next to him, an impulsive thought started growing inside her head. She panicked and clenched her eyes tight, focussing on Yatsuhashi's training.

 _Calm your body. Clear your mind. Purge the thoughts._ Those three small phrases kept being repeated over and over, each repetition feeling more desperate than the last as the original thought gained more power behind it. Eventually as the doors opened and she walked inside, the thought was being subdued. She pressed the button for the top floor with an exhale of breath. The doors closed and she'd realised her victory. She had won out; she was in control of her thoughts and he-

Fox threw his body at Neo, pressing his scarred lips against her own and pushing her against one of the walls of the small metal room, her back hitting a couple of the buttons. At first she was overcome with panic, but with that small lapse in her concentration the thought fired its way to the forefront of her mind and she let it control her actions and feelings now. She closed her eyes and returned the passion, her hand wrapping around the strong boy's waist. Fox's hand braced against the wall, hitting another couple of buttons as it did so. With each second, the heat inside the enclosed space rose faster than the elevator itself. Were there people outside its doors every time it slowed down and reached a new floor, they would have seen a couple of people in the heat of passion with one another and would have most likely waited for the next one. Luckily for them, Fox had asked for their meeting with Ozpin to be as late as he could manage, so there were no other people in the building.

After a few stops on the way up, Fox undid the button on Neo's jacket and began working on unfastening her chocolate brown corset. Neo slid her jacket off and zipped Fox's vest down to reveal his toned, scarred chest; all of this whilst their lips still kept the other company. Fox's upper body became exposed as the vest joined her jacket on the floor and Neo felt her face heat up ever faster than before at the sight of the boy, her body experiencing something she had never experienced before with anyone - desire. Her corset was nearly loosened completely when the soft bell sound of the elevator reaching a new floor snapped the pair of them out of the lustful trance they had entered. He shot himself as far back as he could manage, the wall behind serving as a very solid reminder that this was as far as he could go. Their breathing was heavy and their bodies gleaming with beads of sweat.

"Gods Neo, I'm sorry for-"

~ _Just,_ ~ she held her hand up, stopping him. The she sighed as her thoughts continued, staring at the mass of glowing buttons behind her. ~ _We've hit basically every button for the next 16 floors. We better get ourselves re-dressed before we see him. We'll discuss it later.~_ Reluctantly, Fox agreed. He'd rather speak to her about it now, but she had a valid point; Ozpin wouldn't exactly want to see two out of breath, partially de-clothed people walking into his office.

As the elevator doors finally opened into his office, Ozpin turned round in his chair to see Fox walking out zipping his vest up and a girl walking out after him picking her jacket off the floor and slipping it back on. As Fox learned the hard way in that elevator, corsets are notoriously more difficult to do up than they are to take off. A solitary grey eyebrow was raised at the sight before he greeted the two.

"Good afternoon Mr Alistair," the Headmaster greeted, drawing no attention to the state of the man leaving the elevator. "I trust that you are doing well?"

"I am, yes sir." The Headmaster looked round his second year student at the smaller girl.

"And who might you be?" The girl started signing to the man in hopes that he may understand. His response seemed to answer her question. "Very nice to meet you, Neo." Fox stood there in mild shock; either Ozpin read her thoughts like he now could, or he could understand Sign Language. How and why could he understand Sign Language? Questions for later. "If you don't mind, you are mute aren't you?" The girl pointed to her lips and nodded. "Right. So, Mr Alistair; you wanted to talk to me about something?"

"Yes sir. About the Parchment of Volentes and what it can do. You kept a lot of information away from my team when we were briefed and from what I have been told you refused to share any more information upon de-brief. I would like to know everything you do about it."

"Of course. But I must ask - why is Ms. Neo here as well? I was under the impression it would be just yourself seeing me."

"Well, back at the Museum I grabbed the artefact -"

"Yes, that _would_ explain a lot of things actually."

"- but the only reason I did was to get it away from Neo; who also touched it at the same time." The man in green sat straighter, as if what his student had just said was a revelation to him.

"And I presume that both of you have experienced the same things then?" They nodded. "Right, then I know exactly what has happened." The man took a sip from his mug, then started his explanation. "The Parchment of Volentes split itself in two when you touched it. Not out of choice, but rather uncertainty. Normally it would go to just one person, but as two of you touched it and deemed you both worthy of its power, it split itself and now equal parts of it are resting in the souls of each of you. It's trying to get back together and make itself whole, for only when it is a complete item can its purpose be fulfilled. It can grant the wish of anyone who is in possession of it. Or rath-"

"What like a Genie?" Fox looked at the ground embarrassed, realising that comment was supposed to be a thought in his head. "Sorry." Neo giggled at that remark, but sadly she could not make the sounds synonymous with the action and so Fox couldn't hear the fact she found his comment funny, in a literal and coincidental way.

"Or rather, who _it_ possesses. If the artefact deems a person worthy of its ability it will graft itself onto the person's soul and will remain there until such a time as they make their wish. Once that wish has been fulfilled, it disappears until that person dies and then for a few more years afterwards, just to make sure that same person definitely cannot claim the artefact twice. The two parts need to be one; it's unnatural for it to be any more than one entity. It becomes its driving force. And to liken this to something you may both understand, the two halves of the Parchment of Volentes - and by extension, you two - are effectively soul mates. The two halves are seeking to become whole in the only way it deems right - intimacy. Every now and then there'll be times where you are in close proximity those urges will kick in and you feel the need to be in each other's arms, correct?" The two people blushed hard, recounting their little ride up here. "That's the artefact trying to become whole again. Its purpose was to grant a wish, but if it's in two parts it couldn't possibly do that."

"Okay, so how do we get this wish granted or stop those, um, 'intimate moments' from happening?"

"The only way to stop the latter from happening is to make it believe that it doesn't need to." The expression of both on their faces spelt confusion. Ozpin sighed as he tried explaining in a less cryptic manner. "If you two remain close to one another and make the artefact believe that there is a connection between you two even if there isn't, then it may not need to force those thoughts of immense passion into your heads. Do things together as a pair that may fool it; learn something new together, communicate, interact, be with one another. As for the wish itself, I cannot help you there."

"Thank you sir." Fox bowed his head and turned towards the elevator. Neo followed suit. Once the pair of them were back inside the metal box, Neo spoke to Fox.

~ _So,_ ~ Neo asked, ~ _how do we explain this to your team?~_

"Difficulty, that's how."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ^^^ see that? ^^^  
> That's me McGuffin-ing the plot forward. I'm sorry, but I could think of no other way.


	10. You Made Me Do This

"Soul mates by technicality, huh?" she smirked.

"Yes Coco. Like I haven't explained that already."

"No need to get shirty with me, lover boy."

{" _Coco, can you please not?_ "}

"Sorry Neo. It's just too much fun - Fox has always been very sheltered and had stayed away from relationships and now he's got one because of technicality and I just think it's great!" {" _Besides,"_ } she added in Sign, {" _you've told me you think he's cute._ "}

{" _COCO! You are so lucky he is blind!_ "}

{" _Your secret's safe with us._ "} Coco pondered their situation. "How's this all going to work then? Neo's not a student here."

"We don't need to worry about it too much."

"Of course we do Yatsu," Fox mentioned, his slight panic coming across in his raised voice. "I do _not_ want any more of those passionate outbursts happening to me." Velvet spotted Neo shrugging slightly and could help herself from letting out a hearty giggle. The ice cream girl noticed and her eyes blinked ivory white in panic as she furiously shook her head, seemingly saying "Don't tell him I did that!" The Faunus signed zipping her lips shut, keeping her promise. Yatsuhashi continued.

"No, I mean we only have four more days until we break up for the end of the semester. Then we have a full two weeks where we can hopefully sort everything out for you two. Until then, we make do. Neo?" The mute looked at Yatsuhashi. The tall boy switched to Sign Language out of politeness and also to test and see if he'd retained the knowledge she had imparted on him. {" _Where do you stay when you're not here?_ "} 

{" _Somewhere else,_ "} she replied, her answer both vague and descriptive enough to not draw any more questions. {" _It's not close by any means, but I wouldn't call it a trek to get there._ "}

{" _And how easy is it for you to get into Beacon?_ "} he asked, sticking with Sign.

{" _I've sneaked in basically every day for the past 2 months now,_ "} Neo reminded him, {" _I think I'm fine on that front._ "}

{" _Of course._ "} "So, if Neo keeps sneaking in every day for the next four days after classes until we're done with this semester and she and Fox just sit around and feign affection for a bit, that ought to keep the urges at bay long enough so that we can think up a plan for the next two weeks."

"Sounds like a great plan Yatsu," Coco acknowledge with a proud smile adorning her face. "Ever wanted to take at swing at my role for a while?"

"I appreciate the sentiment Coco, but you are a far better leader than I ever could be."

 _Humble and polite as ever_ , she thought to herself as he declined the offer, unfazed by his decision.

"We need to make sure that at least one of us is with them just in case the urges strike and they need to be separated."

Velvet nodded hesitantly at that proposal. "I'm okay with that Yatsu. But there are three of us to do this over four days."

"You and Coco can work as a pair, I shall work alone. If anything happens, I should be large enough to keep them apart whilst the urges subside."

"You _sure_ you don't want my role, Yatsu?"

"I am positive." The fashionista smiled and winked at her teammate over her sunglasses.

"Tonight then, what's the plan?"

"I suggest you and Velvet go out together. It has been a while since you have, and I'm pretty sure you still have that dress on reserve from before the mission at the Museum." Their team leader's eyes visibly widened, even from behind her sunglasses, and her hands smack on the side of the bed she was sitting on.

"Holy shit, you're right! They're going to think I'm dead or something! Velv, grab your make-up; we're going straight to that place, getting your dress, getting you looking even prettier and going for a meal. If we hurry, we'll get to the shop before they shut for the night."

"Oum, I love it when you're demanding," her Faunus companion smiled as she bounded up to grab her make-up and put it in her bag.

"Gross, get a room" Fox teased.

"Later, lover boy. You've got first dibs." Neo's face shone bright red with embarrassment as she stared the gunner down. She just smirked back at the petite woman and signed back, {" _Kidding. Sort of._ "} "C'mon hun, we don't want to miss our ride."

"See you later guys!"

"Bye!" And then there were three. Yatsuhashi looked over at Fox and Neo, who were sitting incredibly uncomfortably on the bed and sighed.

"This may be a long night."

**~000~**

Yatsuhashi wasn't too far from the truth, it did seem like a very long night. From when Coco and Velvet left just before 6:20pm to when the mute woman went 'home' at 9:00pm, Fox and Neo basically did nothing with each other. Sure, they sat together all night but they didn't do anything together. Fox grabbed his book from earlier and continued to read it, Neo got out her Scroll and was playing games. When the time came, Neo waved goodbye to Yatsuhashi and said goodbye to Fox in his head or something, because he replied without knowing that she was leaving beforehand. The only thing of interest that happened to them all night was that Neo went to leave through the door, but instead had a bit of fun; she grabbed her parasol and jumped out of the window, floating down to the ground using her weapon as a makeshift parachute. Yatsuhashi had to admit, he'd never seen that before.

"You know Fox," Yatsuhashi began as he shut the window on seeing Neo land safely, "when I said 'feign intimacy', I meant actually try to show some sort of affection for one another."

"Yatsu, I appreciate your concern. But everything worked out just fine tonight and I would be perfectly content if it stays like this."

"Yes, tonight was okay. Tomorrow may be too. But what happens in three or four or twelve days' time when something _does_ happen and you feel bad afterwards for letting those easily avoidable thoughts to cross your mind?"

" _If_ that happens, you and/or Coco and Velvet will be there to pry us apart." During the entire conversation, Fox never once looked up from his book.

"Fox..." The tank sighed, moving from his own bed and sitting on his partner's. The blind boy glanced up very briefly as his bed dipped down, but was straight back to the page in an instant. "We will not always be there; even if we were, sometimes we may not be able to help you, only you can help yourself."

"I know that. I also know that reading braille is actually very difficult to do whilst someone is spouting philosophy in your ear."

The swordsman's expression soured. "That was uncalled for."

"You interrupted my flow, it was entirely called for."

"Listen to me. You have always shied away from giving affection because you are afraid, and you have never really noticed when affection was being given because you cannot see what everyone else sees and that prohibits your judgements. But this has been handed to you on a plate. Do not swat it away like some ungrateful child, follow the path to see where it may lead. Should you feel like it has not worked, there is no stopping you from turning back. But if that is the case you are in for the long run - the artefact will still remain inside you for the rest of your life and you will always be subconsciously drawn back to this chance you may miss if you sit around doing nothing."

He got no response. Sighing, Yatsuhashi finally stopped trying with the boy, got up and grabbed his night clothes before heading towards the bathroom. "I do not want to see my brother suffer." Fox's attention shifted fully from the lumpy page of his book to his brother-in-arms as he walked into the bathroom to change and ready himself for sleep. Fox dwelled on that thought for no longer than it took the sound of the clicking door to fade into nothingness before the boy shut his book and threw himself under the covers.

**~000~**

The next night fared in very much the same way as the night beforehand, albeit in reverse. Yatsuhashi wanted to go see a new movie at the cinema, so he decided that tonight would be when he'd go. He bid his farewells and left his teammates and Neo in their dorm. As soon as Yatsuhashi was gone, Fox went for his book. Neo grew interested in it. There were no words on the page, just a bunch of lumps. She'd never really seen that before.

Then again, neither had Fox when she think about it.

She started talking to the other girls in the room about it.

{" _Coco?_ "} the ice cream girl signed to the team leader.

{" _Yes Neo, what's up?_ "}

{" _Fox's book; what is it?_ "} Neo pointed to it to make sure Coco knew which one she was on about.

Looking at it briefly, Coco answered with, {" _It's Harry_ _Potter._ "}

She knew that, so she clarified. {" _But it doesn't look like there are words._ "}

{" _Oh, that's because it's written in braille._ "}

{" _That's braille?_ "} Neo eyed it again before comment that, {" _It's much more different than I thought it would be..._ "}

{" _What did you think it was?_ "} The mute took a second to think before replying.

{" _I'm not too sure, come to think of it. Just... not that._ "}

{" _The words are like that so that blind people can feel the words rather than see them._ "}

 _Oh._ {" _Makes sense. Have you read any of them?_ "}

{" _No I haven't. Sorry._ "}

{" _Me either,_ "} Velvet added, having been paying attention to their conversation, {" _but Fox has told us about them. Most of these books are different to the ones you, I or Coco read._ "}

Neo tilted her head and raised her eyebrow, asking the question of "How?" without signing it at all. Velvet picked up on that and answered accordingly. {" _Well, some focus less on the physical attributes of a person or a scene and instead really work on making the dialogue stick or the action very descriptive. One author's reasoning was 'Why write something that people aren't going to understand? If someone cannot see, why waste time telling them that the blossoming trees looked like candyfloss when he or she has no real concept of either of those things?' I don't understand personally, but I get the thought behind it. This one isn't though, I think it's a normal book transcribed in braille._ "}

{" _I see._ "}

{" _Well, at least **you**_ _do..._ "}

{" _Velvet!_ "} Coco playfully smacked her girlfriend's arm. {" _Have you been hanging around Blake when Yang's been there again?_ "}

{" _Maybe... they're inseparable at the moment and it's kind of cute. Even the terrible puns._ "}

Not wanting to alienate their guest with couple banter, Coco brought the conversation topic back around. {" _So anyway Neo; why the fascination all of a sudden?_ "}

{" _It's just... I want to learn it._ "} A slight blush grew on her face as she added her reasoning afterwards. {" _So that I can read with Fox._ "} The partners simultaneously uttered "Aww" aloud at the reasoning, causing Fox to finally divert his attention away from the book to the other three people in the room.

"What is it this time?" The girlfriends panicked, not knowing what to say. Luckily, Neo was being level headed and signed the words {" _Puppy or kitten_ "}

"It was a picture of a puppy. It was so adorable."

"I'm glad, but I kinda don't want to hear it. I'm reading." Neo furrowed her brow and crossed her arms at Fox's reply.

{" _Is he always like this with books?_ "}

{" _If it's good, which this one seemingly is. He'll be like this until he finishes it - and I don't know how long that'll take._ "}

They needed to talk. She signed at Coco and Velvet so that they knew what was going on.

{" _I'm going to talk. Give me five minutes. Stay nearby, just in case._ "} They nodded and let her do her thing. She shifted her weight to talk to Fox and clapped to grab his attention. His milky white eyes looked at her.

"Can I help you?"

~ _We need to talk. Now._ ~

"Fine, what did you want to talk about?"

~ _Not out loud,_ ~ she told him. ~ _Privately._ ~

"You want to...? Okay." He shut his book and sat crossed legged on his bed, staring at her. His inner voice now sounded in her head, just as hers did with him. ~ _What about?_ ~

 _~Why won't you do something about us?_ ~

~ _We are, aren't we?_ ~ he argued. ~ _We're here, together, in a room and, as such, nothing is happening. That's what Ozpin wanted._ ~

~ _No, Ozpin wants us to do things together as a pair. As a **pair** , Fox, not separate things whilst the other is in the room._~ Her expression darkened slightly as he continued, failing to see the urgency and importance behind her actions.

~ _I do not have the time to do that sort of thing._ ~

~ _Yet you have plenty of time to sit around and read your book,_ ~ he shot back.

~ _Hey, this book is really engrossing, all right? The author just grabs my attention, I want to get to the end of it._ ~

~ _Listen I just... I don't want to be spending the rest of my life alone. I want something and this is the perfect opportunity for me to find something. Find someone._ ~ Fox scoffed at the idea, then spoke aloud.

"I don't care about that Neo. I want to finish my book. And after, I want to live my life my way. Let me do that." He grabbed the object of his affection and stormed out of his dorm. Coco and Velvet crossed the room to their friend, half expecting her to be in tears. The sight they saw was much worse.

Her face was bone dry and her expression was that of anger.

"Neo...?"

{" _He forced me to do this; I'm going make him regret choosing that book over me._ "} The girls looked a little bewildered at that remark.

"Um... how?"

{" _You'll see._ "} She grabbed her parasol and her Scroll, then raced off to the local library.

Within minutes of arriving there, she found a member of staff who could understand Sign Language.

Moments after questions were asked, she'd found the books on learning braille, plus a couple of sizable texts that she could test her knowledge on afterwards.

She was 'home' soon after carrying four sizable books with her. She placed them on the floor and started searching everywhere else for various items.

Neo needed necessities.

Blanket - check.

Books - check.

Torch - check.

Spoon - check.

Tub of ice cream... _Shit._

A quick trip to the store later, Neo walked back through her door carrying five tubs of ice cream. She tossed one towards the pile she'd started earlier and put the remaining four where they'd normally be stored. After they were stored away, she returned to her pile.

Tub of ice cream - now it can be a check.

Music - check.

First alarm clock set to go off every 4hrs - check. Press!

Second alarm clock set to go off every 4hrs - present, waiting for 20 minutes before pressing.

Neo cracked her neck and prepared for a long night of learning. She had learnt to use the Uberman Sleep Cycle, so she only needed 20 minute naps every 4hrs and yet still performed to the same standards as someone on a normal sleep cycle. She'd memorised plans in immaculate detail in a few hours. Learning how to read braille may take her a little longer, but she didn't care; she's got a couple of days to play with, and that's all she needed.

 _Alright Fox. Prepare to meet the **real**_ _Neo._


	11. Separate Thyself from Thy Attachment

Two days until Beacon broke for the end of semester and Fox was still diving into his book whenever he got the chance; he was so invested in the plot that nothing really else seemed to matter to him, a fact that worried his teammates. They met up after they had grabbed their lunch break and sat away from the boy himself to talk, voices hushed in case he walked by and started listening - unlikely, given how engrossed he was, but not out of the question.

"Okay, what are we going to do about this?" the team leader queried. "I am open to any and all suggestions." Yatsuhashi offered first opinion.

"We could let Fox read through the book." Coco had already deemed that option as a no-go, so scrapped this version or any subsequent versions the second she heard anyone speak it. But, out of respect for her team's opinions, she let him finish. "Once he has completed it, then he will not have it to distract him from what he needs to do, which is to be with Neo right now."

"Valid point." Velvet added. "However, what's to stop him from finding a different book? If he's stuck on this one, so long as he can't get it he can't finish. I say we hide it somewhere, like at the far side of Forever Falls, or in Goodwitch's cabinets."

"Okay, hunny-bun, you need to stop hanging around with Ruby so much. Whilst her ideas are fun and all, they work well within the confines of her own team, maybe even extending as far as Team JNPR. They're not second year material, and whilst I hold nothing against her - Ruby  _is_  two years younger than all of her peers - it shows sometimes. We also have to remember that Fox can sense things when he wants to. He'd just focus his Aura and *bam!*, he's found where you've hidden his book."

"Sorry, I guess Ruby's nonsensical ramblings do stick after a while. I'll space out my meetings with Blake a little more, or try to find times where Ruby and Yang aren't around to distract her."

"That's okay Velv. Forgiven and forgotten." The beret wearing girl kissed between the Rabbit ears on her girlfriend's head, a very passionate show of affection between two people amongst Faunus kind, before huddling back in the group to continue the discussion. "So, what else have we got?"

There was an uneasy silence between the trio. Neither of them had any valid ideas. Fox might win this battle without even trying. All three of their Scrolls buzzed at roughly the same time. Most of the time, it meant that there was a mission for them to undertake. This time, however, was because of a message sent from Neo's Scroll, but under the name Bubblegum instead of either Neo or Cherry.

**Bubblegum:  
_Do any of you know where Fox is keeping his book?_**

They all looked at each other and wondered why she'd want or need to know that.

"I'll reply." Coco said as she typed out their collective message.

**Coco:  
_We're all together right now, except Fox. He's got it on him, he's reading it right now._**

**Bubblegum:  
_Damn it!_ **

**_Alright, tomorrow I need you to get him to keep it in your dorm._ **

An odd request; odd enough to warrant questioning.

**Coco:  
_Why do you need him to keep it there?_**

**Bubblegum:  
_You'll see :)_**

_**2 files attached. Click**_ _ **here**_   _ **to view**_

Coco did click and saw that she had taken a photo of a couple of books open to various pages that, upon inspection, couldn't be completely deciphered by any of the team; but the look of the text and the title of the fourth book lying cover up beside them titled "How to Learn to Read Braille" gave them a pretty concrete idea of what she may be doing.

"Oh my Oum, she's actually learning to read braille for Fox. That's adorable!"

"I also must commend her skill," Yatsu said. "You said she had no idea about how braille worked yesterday, yet it seems she has picked up a very large portion of it in what seems to be only 12 hours or so."

"I know; I'm a little jealous, actually." Coco swiped to view the second photo, and saw a sight that really confused her. A mass of blue, some rope and a pack of gum. She hid her Scroll in a panic. "Okay... probably not meant for us, that one..."

"What was it?" Velvet asked.

"So," she abruptly and not at all subtly deflected, "we have our plan." Coco knew Velvet wasn't letting her off the hook for not telling her what she saw, if the look her girlfriend was giving her was anything to go by. "How are we going to convince him to keep the thing in our dorm? He's glued to that thing at the moment."

"Well, it _is_ the last day of the semester, I'm sure you can find some reason that he'd go along with." The Faunus flashed an innocent smile with her suggestion.

Coco saw through the smile to the hidden meaning behind it; she most definitely was _not_ getting off the hook for not showing Velvet. "Sure," she answered, trying (and failing) to keep her cool. Velvet's polite intimidation always seemed to get to her. Coco messaged 'Bubblegum' back.

 **Coco:  
_So, are we going to be seeing you this evening then? Or have you still got some work to be getting on with?_**  

No reply. Nothing. They moved on with the rest of their lunch break before Velvet finally checked to see if anything had come through by the end of their break. Still nothing from 'Bubblegum' in twenty minutes.

"Oh well, I guess that means "yes" to the work then." The trio were just about to head to class before they all got a message. It was from 'Bubblegum'.

**Bubblegum:  
_Sorry, I was scheduled an Uberman nap and didn't want to mess with my cycle. Yes I'll be working, so no to seeing me tonight._**

"Okay, I am a bit more than a little jealous now..." And with that all cleared up, they headed to their post-lunch Grimm Studies class.

"So what _was_ in that picture?" Velvet inquired as she snaked an arm around Coco's. The fashionista felt a few beads of sweat drip from beneath her beret at her girlfriend's question.

* * *

The final day of the semester.

Neo (masquerading as Bubblegum) needed Fox's book to remain in the dorm for her plan to work. For reasons known only to her, she was refusing to tell anyone what exactly that plan was or involved. But as the blind boy was so lost in the pages of the book that they feared he may get swallowed by it, the team believed that it may not be such a bad idea to have him pried away from the mass of paper for a day.

"Ready to go Fox?" Velvet asked as she gathered her things.

"Uh huh." His not-existent gaze didn't even leave the page.

"Really? You seem quite engrossed in your book."

"Yeah, one minute."

She did her darndest not to groan at his actions. _Well, you made me pull the trump card,_ Velvet thought. She really didn't like doing this - she was in a committed and loving relationship - but needs must, and she had been given permission to do this if she had to. 

"Fox, could you leave it here for today?" The boy looked up from his book; he'd woken up significantly earlier than he usually did, so he decided that would be the perfect time to continue reading. He wouldn't disturb anyone with a reading lamp; the only person it might irritate in his dorm would be the person currently asking him to leave the book behind due to her massively sensitive Faunus hearing.

"Why? I have nearly finished the story."

"It's the last day of the semester Fox," she mentioned, scooting over to his bed and sitting down right next to him. She even lay her hands over one of his own to stop him from continuing to read as she spoke to him. "We have two whole weeks where you can sit around from before the crack of dawn to way into the twilight hours reading that book. It'll only be for today." She gave his hand a small squeeze. "Please?" The boy heard the slight plea in her voice. She was desperate for him to leave the book and enjoy himself on the last day. A smile grew on her face; hard as it was, he could never really get rid of that silly little crush he had on her from first year. 

"Okay, okay," he said, a smile growing on his own face at the request. "Just for today, I'll leave it in here." He shut the book and lay it on his pillowcase as Velvet squealed slightly.

"Thank you Fox!" she jumped at him and caught him in a hug that toppled his balance slightly, nearly knocking him clean onto his back. A horrified gasp came from the bathroom door as Coco came into view.

"How  _could_  you, Velvet? I leave your sights for but a minute, and I return to see you cheating on me! With a man of all things! I should have known better than to love someone like you, you Temptress!" The way their team leader spoke her words of "pain" and "betrayal" over her girlfriend's actions were so over the top it became comical. Velvet played along, besting her partner's ridiculous and rather entertaining act with her own.

"Alack! Fair maiden, your eyes deceive you. I merely embrace this man as a friend would. My heart shalt always belong to you and you alone."

"Oh my sweet angel, how can thou be so beautiful?" Coco took Velvet's hands and pulled her in closer as if the pair was to start dancing a slow waltz around their dorm. "'Twas as if the Heavens opened one day and shone a light upon Remnant and the Silly-voiced Man Voice in the Sky did speak and say: 'Here be'eth a woman of beauty and grace, and the best sex thou shalt ever experience!'" Velvet couldn't help herself, she corpsed her performance and burst out laughing so suddenly that her insides started to hurt. Her body naturally started to sway to a beat neither could hear but both could feel. A natural rhythm for the pair of them.

"Y'know, it started out quite nicely Coco. I'll give you points for that."

"Hey, I'm just telling the truth."

"I know, I know."

"And you can't say I don't try, okay hun?"

"I never did anyway." The pair finished with a quick but passionate kiss as they swayed to their tune. As they parted, Fox started clapping and cheering as if he were at a show. He'd never been to one, but he read that this is what people do.

"Bravo! Bravo! Encore!"

"Did you hear that Coco? An encore; they  _want_  us to kiss more!"

The fashionista grinned. "I like this crowd."

"No, that's not what I me-" his words were cut off by the sound of their lips meeting once again. Fox grumbled, which caused the couple to start laughing during their kiss, losing its intimacy and causing it to break off quicker than they wanted, but they weren't complaining - it was an encore kiss. "We'd better head off, Goodwitch doesn't like people being late, even on the last day."


	12. Hot vs Cold, and Hot Isn't Winning This Time

Lunchtime once again. Team CFVY sat with their lunches as YCVF, a practice not too uncommon nowadays with their team leader and shy Faunus teammate dating midway through their first year. They all laughed and joked about the class they'd just finished between mouthfuls of above-average-for-Beacon-cafeteria food when Coco was smacked on the back of her head with the bag of a passing student. She caught her sunglasses as they could have flown off her face and onto her tray, or worse - into her food, and stood to confront the perpetrator who was blissful walking away.

"Hey!" her voice was raised to an extent where the girl would have very easily heard her, but not so loud as the entire dining hall stopped and stared at the second year, wondering what she'd have to say. But the girl walked away still. Coco even swore she saw her pace hasten. "Gimme a sec guys." The beret wearing girl's fists balled as she freed herself from the seat and started walking after her, needing to close the substantial gap as fast as she could without running. Despite the brat's size, she put her through her paces. Eventually throwing caution to the wind, Coco started lightly but purposefully jogging to catch the figure that was still just walking away from her. By now, the remaining three quarters of Team CFVY were completely out of earshot - even the hearing range of their rabbit eared teammate, and Coco was understandably angry that she was having to do this. After what seemed like far too long, the team leader grabbed the shoulder of the girl and turned her round.

"What do you think you're playing at?" Her following words got caught up in her throat so badly that her only cause of action was to swallow them back down again. She was struck at the genuine flawlessness of this girl, a fact Velvet would have scrutinised her something fierce for - even though Coco had mentioned a few times to the Faunus girl that she can, and probably will, still admire other people from all walks of life, but her heart would always be Velvet's.

This girl's hair almost glowed in the Vale sun with fluorescent blue light that transfixed Coco's gaze first. She found herself looking at her eyes; whilst the allure of Velvet's very boringly brown eyes was something special to her, the sheer wonder of the girls almost metallic blue orbs caused a very slight blush to creep its way up the team leader's neck. Her lipstick was a bubble gum blue, and the blusher she wore on her cheeks was quite natural in comparison, but there was still a trace of blue in there. Then she finally stared at her outfit; the girl must have been from Vacuo, because her outfit matched none of the uniforms from the other three schools. She wore fairly lofty, almost sky blue platform boots that were adorned with lighter and darker blue swirls. Her legs were covered with off-white leggings that had a hint of blue running along the hems. The top half of her outfit consisted of nothing too fancy, but the way she wore it was so different; a grey t-shirt that stopped just above her abdomen, an open sky blue vest and a longer jacket that was, for all intents and purposes, the same colour as her leggings; but instead of sitting over her shoulders it was wrapped fashionably around her waist. It looked amazing.

Coco realised she'd been staring too long. She shook her head and tried resuming her verbal attack on the girl for hitting her.

"I said, why did you hit me?" The girl, who was much shorter than she was even in heeled boots, grinned and shook her head. "What's that supposed to mean, huh?" She placed a finger on her lips, Coco noticing for the first time that she was sporting nail polish in a very similar colour as her eyes. The metallic blue hues shifted to their Heterochromia norm of pink and brown, then with a wink at the girl the woman's eyes shifted back to the fake colour she was sporting. Were it physically possible to do so, Coco's jaw would have hit the floor. As it wasn't possible, it instead dropped as far as it would go.

"Neo?!" she replied in an awestruck whisper, knowing full well that her presence in the school was a big risk for her. "Did you do that to get my attention?" The woman in disguise nodded with a grin, then handed Coco a pack of blue bubble gum. "Um..." The woman nodded her head towards the pack, indicating to the Huntress-in-Training that there was something there. Upon closer inspection, she lowered her sunglasses to read what was inscribed on the box.

**I need to get inside your dorm. What's the code/can I borrow your Scroll? x**

Brown eyes looked into metallic blue as the woman's grin widened once more. Still trying to get over the fact that this was Neo in a costume so amazing even she didn't realise it was her (and she'd spent a very large portion of time over the past month and a bit in her company), Coco handed the woman her Scroll as discreetly as she could and spoke to her in very hushed tones, forgetting that she could use Sign and be completely silent.

"Is this for the thing you've got planned for Fox?"

A nod of confirmation.

"Are you going to tell me what you're planning?"

A shake of the head.

"Will we see you later then?"

A playful wink with a slight twinge of malice. Oh dear... Coco thought fast, making it look like she'd scolded the younger looking 'student' for her inability to watch her surroundings. Afterwards, she stormed back to her teammates and sat down next to Velvet once again, her food now cold and their plates almost completely empty.

"Care to share what that was about?" Fox asked, unsure of what happened.

"Pass. I'm too hungry to bore you with the details." She took a bite out of her food. She then promptly and ungracefully let the partially chewed food spill out of her mouth and into the waiting napkin. "I've decided that I am no longer hungry; but there aren't really any details to share." The leader stretched, then noticed how the other three members were still staring at her, not content with her response. "There aren't any details guys!"

* * *

"See Fox, that wasn't so hard was it? We're done now, you've got two weeks to spend with Neo and finish your book."

"Thank you, I appreciate it. I shall spend as much time as I can with my book, then _if_ I finish it quickly enough, I will spend the rest of my time with Neo. Sound fair?" The blind boy's teammates all agreed as they walked towards their dorm. Fox intended to drag out his reading as long as he possibly could; he disliked being in the presence of that nuisance that had plagued his life ever since the Museum. But as they got closer, they realised that the door was already slightly ajar. No one had been back to the room since they'd left this morning for their first lesson. Coco had a sneaking suspicion as to why, but didn't let on. As the team entered their dorm for the first time this break they were greeted by Neo, who was partially out of her Bubblegum persona with the removal of her wig, reapplying of her gloves and her eyes returned to her natural abnormality that was pink and brown. She glanced up at the four students walking into the room and smirked as she looked directly at Fox, her fingers hastily tracing over the pages in front of her.

"Neo?" Yatsuhashi queried. "What are you doing in our dorm? How did you even get in here?" The woman lifted one hand off the page to throw Coco's Scroll back at the original owner with surprising speed and accuracy. Those not privy to the pair's one-sided conversation in the dining hall looked at their leader.

"You let her in?" Velvet asked, knowing where Neo wanted Fox's book, but unsure as to how she was meant to get it. 

"She needed my Scroll. I assumed she was coming him here to read Fox's book to catch up." Fox's milky eyes widened and flew back towards Neo. Her expression didn't change as she knew he could not see it. Instead, she spoke with him.

~ _Great book you've got here, Fox,_ ~ she teased.

"Velvet, did you know Neo would come in here and start reading my book? Is _that_ why you asked me to keep it here?"

"Sort of?" she answered. The Faunus shyly shrugged with a very forced giggle, the sound alone being indication to her boy that the answer was very much a 'Yes'.

"Why Neo?" She didn't speak to him again, instead opting to Sign to the remaining three.

{" _Tell him that it was a mistake choosing the book over me._ "} The three panicked, unsure who should bare the bad news. {" _Do it!_ "} How it was possible to convey such anger in Sign was beyond the team, but Neo managed. This was a far cry for the calm and 'chatty' Neo they had been hanging around with before. This was the real Neo. The sadistic, toying Neo.

"She says that choosing the book over her was a bad mistake Fox," Coco conveyed to her tan skinned teammate.

{" _I was hurt by your choice._ "}

"She was hurt by your choice."

{" _So I learnt braille over the last two days, and I'm about to finish reading the book._ "}

"She's almost finished your book, having learnt braille in a couple of days."

{" _And I know what happens, so I'm going to spoil it for you._ "}

"She's going to... no, Neo that's cruel!" The woman traced her hand over the book's pages one last time before she closed the book completely, her speed learning and fast processing allowed her to sail through the book at breakneck speeds and finished the book that had occupied weeks of Fox's time in mere hours.

{" _Tell him, or I'll start spoiling directly to him..._ "} she signed with an almighty Cheshire Cat grin.

"She's... going to spoil the book." Fox lunged towards his book, and Neo gladly let him take it. She'd learnt what she needed to, the book was useless to her now.

"You wouldn't _dare!_ " Fox shouted. Eyes started burning with an evil look that, whilst their intended target missed the stare, his teammates most certainly did not. Neo's sadistic grin reared its head. Was that a challenge? She started nearer the beginning, intent on dropping as many spoilers as she could lead up to the bigger ones nearer the end that he hadn't quite reached yet.

~ _Barty Crouch Jnr. was Moody all along._ ~ Fox began to panic; she'd read his book and at least had some knowledge of the subsequent ones, she knew what was going to happen.

"Neo, please." he asked firmly.

~ _Sirius Black's death._ ~ She was teasing Fox. His fists balled up in anger.

"That's enough, I get it!"

~ _Bye bye Dumbledore._ ~

She'd hit the point he hadn't reached let. He was only a few pages away as well; his favourite character was dead. At least, he assumed he was. What else could she have meant when she said "Bye bye Dumbledore"? ~ _Oh, but that's not the kicker, the kicker is-~_

"ENOUGH!" Fox lunged not at where the book was this time, but at Neo herself. She sat there smugly as the boy shattered through her illusion and stared up around the room. But he couldn't feel her at all. And what made things worse, his teammates couldn't see her. But he could still hear her in is head.

~ _You know what, this is too much fun. I think I'm going to go into detail._ ~ He could hear the smug grin on her face. ~ _So y'know when they teleport to find one of the Horcruxes? Well..._ ~

"Guys, you have _got_ to help me find her! I don't want the book spoiled for me!" Genuine dread from Fox's voice was all the motivation the team needed. They obliged his request, and started searching every place they could in the room for the woman. She couldn't be too far away else she and Fox couldn't communicate.

"Can't you sense her?"

"No Yatsu, I can't!" came the sarcastic and panicked response. "She's using _your_ meditation tricks to hide her own Aura from me!" Whilst the tall boy accepted the blame internally, he did not express so outwardly as he continued his search. Neo was apparently still rambling on inside Fox's head all this time.

~ _... and so when they're back at the Tower, a few Death Eaters make their way to him. Of course, Harry is told to hide..._ ~ Velvet opened the door to their bathroom to see the girl standing in front of the mirror, nonchalantly removing her makeup as if this were her own room. The Rabbit jumped to hold her still, but she shattered into pieces once again and caused Velvet to carry on falling straight into the mirror by the sink with a worryingly solid _thunk_. The petite antagonising woman plopped into existence on Yatsuhashi's shoulders, her head ducked down so that she wasn't scraping the ceiling.

~ _... Dumbledore was talking to them when-_ ~ she was interrupted by the tall boy whose shoulders she was currently resting on grabbing her by the waist and trying to thrown her to the ground. In response, she wrapped her legs underneath the arms he currently had extended above his head to grab her. As he tried to throw, she used his momentum and threw him to the ground instead with a massive crash (as to be expected when a 7 foot giant of a man hits the floor hard), winding him as she sat there on his shoulders, legs parted so that they weren't crushed under the boy's falling weight, feet pointing straight at Coco. She widened her legs and blew the team leader a very suggestive kiss, infuriating the girl. Neo rolled backwards away from Coco into a standing position but was "caught off guard" by Fox tackling her to the bed.

She laid there, Fox's weight pressing down on her as she smirked a smirk she knew he couldn't see. ~ _At least take me out to dinner first,_ ~ she offered as she gave him a glance up and down his body.

"Enough! Why do this? Why go through all this trouble?"

~ _I just said: Take me out to dinner._ ~

His anger peaked, and Fox smacked his hands on the bedsheet hard enough to make Neo jump a little, but only at the sudden and unexpected sound - she wasn't fazed by Fox's feeble attempts at intimidation. "Stop with the silly games Neo!"

~ _It's not a game. If we're going to be 'Soul Mates', we need to act like it. I wanted companionship and I have that. Well, had definitely. I wanted a relationship as well, and what better opportunity than this?~_

" _This_ is your idea of getting a relationship? Sneak into someone's room and ruin the book series he's reading? That's twisted."

~ _I'm new to the whole thing, what do I know?~_

"Just..." he sighed an irritated sigh. "What is it _exactly_ that you want?"

~ _What did Ozpin say we should do to keep the urges at bay?_ ~ Deciding to toy with him more than she already was, Neo walked her fingers up Fox's chest as she continued with, ~ _urges I have to admit are creeping up pretty fast at the moment considering the position you're holding me in._ ' The blind boy literally jumped off her, giving her some room to move again. She sat up calmly as Yatsuhashi wheezed, his breath slowly coming back in and Velvet shuffled in slowly, the small cut above her eye dripping minute amounts of blood. Coco was now slightly madder at the girl, for understandable and very obvious reasons.

"He said we needed to do things as a pair." Fox's voice was monotonous, clearly he did not want to recount the Headmaster's instructions.

~ _That's what I want. I wanted to do that naturally, which is why I came to you when you were training. Then I tried a little more subtly, hence the talking to your team and being close but distant. When both options failed, this was the only alternative. So, we_ _ **are**_ _going to go out and do things together as a couple.~_ She stood, grabbed her things and walked past Team CFVY to go to the door, turning back to the room and mentally talking to Fox, Signing for everyone else who was watching. {" _I'll be here at 11:00am tomorrow; Fox and I are going to go into Vale. Goodbye._ "} And with that, Neo was gone, her sadistic smile plastered over her face like a trophy.

"Fox," Coco said sternly, tending to her girlfriend's wound.

"Yes?" he replied very cautiously.

She returned in a very teasing manner, the sternness clearly a ploy to get his attention. Sure, what she'd just done was completely obscene, but to Coco, it was mildly charming. "You have a literal nutcase for your first girlfriend; you are royally screwed." 

"Thanks Coco..." he groaned as he fell face first back onto his bed.


	13. Sore Thumbs, Old Habits, and Cleaning the Mess that Came Afterwards

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A combination of Chapters 14, 15 & 16 from the original FFnet upload. This'll be a long one, so strap in.

"Okay, why do I _have_ to do this again?"

Fox deemed his concern to be necessary; the woman who had basically blackmailed him into going on a date with her - if that's what you'd call it, depends on your perspective - after thoroughly embarrassing and outclassing the entirety of one of the best upperclassmen teams Beacon has ever seen on her own whilst barely breaking a sweat herself... okay, Fox could see why he had to do this. Unfortunately - or fortunately, again depending on your perspective - none of his teammates were like Neo, in the sense that they couldn't hear his thoughts. So they answered as if his inner monologue had never happen which, to them, it never did.

"You are going for your safety," Yatsuhashi assured. Fox and Coco audibly guffawed at that statement, the laughter subsiding just as suddenly as it sprung from their cores. A roll of his eyes later, the boy continued. "These urges that you experience could be detrimental to your life as a Huntsman. Whilst they only seem to be happening when you and Neo are in close proximity to one another, who is to say that it would be the same forever? Doing this may make things easier for you, plus it will help you get along a bit more."

"' _May_ make things easier', Yatsu," he stressed. "' _May_ ' - there is no guarantee that this will work."

"There was no guarantee that things would work out for me either Fox; yet here I am with the most adorable bunny in all on Remnant by my side as my girlfriend." Coco grabbed the waist of the Faunus and pulled her closer to her own. The cheeks of the girl in question turned the shade of red that aptly coincided with her surname at the compliment paid to her. 

"She's right; we're as happy as we have ever been," the Faunus girl finished, wrapping her arms around the neck of her girlfriends as she did so, her smile evident in her voice as her blush faded from prominence.

"Well..." Velvet's rabbit ears drooped at the word. Was Coco not happy with them? She turned to look into her girlfriend's eyes with an air of worry. "Happy as we can be - given the current circumstances of there being two extra bodies in the room, and I am having very unsavoury thoughts about my girlfriend at the moment." Coco lowered her sunglasses and winked a teasing wink at the girl in her arms and, rather than shy away as she normally would under these sort of situations when there were unfamiliar people around, Velvet released the breath she was unaware she was holding and proceeded to rest her head on the nearest shoulder of the fashionista, a playful grin making its way across her face as well. The wink was returned.

Knuckles against the wooden door of the dorm room saved having Fox's hearing completely scarred from listening to the resident couple of Team CFVY talk flirtatiously at one another mere metres from on his left. He opened the door, and was greeted by uncomfortable silence.

"...I guess we're going for the old silent treatment you're used to then?" Neo stood outside as Bubblegum as she gazed at her 'date', the only difference in her outfit from yesterday being the butterscotch pink lipstick she was sporting. Yes, Fox was blind, but that doesn't mean she could skimp on the whole 'dress up for a date' thing. Clearly, he never got that memo - standard combat attire from Fox. She tilted her head as a thought crossed it, the brilliant whites and light, man-made blues of her outfit contrasted completely to the deep and earthy brown, black, and copper colour palette of Fox's outfit. They couldn't have looked any different and they'd stand out like two sore thumbs. One blind, one mute sore thumb.

"Okay, before anyone goes anywhere I want to know one thing." Coco broke the grasp she had on her partner, barged straight past Fox at the door and proceeded to back Neo against the opposite wall of the hallway they were in. In quite an uncharacteristic move for him, Fox stepped forward to separate his team leader from his would-be date, despite the fact the only reason he's here is because he was blackmailed to do so and that he is in possession of half of an ancient artefact that demanded to be whole, the other half inside the girl he was stepping towards to kind of protect. Fox agreed to himself, that was a bit weird. "No, I _need_ to know..." Fox tensed, not exactly saying that he wasn't excited to have these two fight properly but at the same time kind of wishing they would and accidentally fracture his spine and give him a long time to recuperate in the Infirmary. He was taken aback; yes, he'd suggested the Infirmary to himself as a genuinely better alternative.

"Tell me... how the _hell_ did you do all of _that?!_ I mean, look at you: I didn't even recognise you first time. You're like, a completely different person. Did you make this yourself?" Neo's marginal panic faded with a sigh as the reality of the question sunk in. She nodded, a satisfied grin on her face. "All of it, in what, a day?" The satisfaction of the grin turned into smugness as she nodded once again. "Holy shit..." Coco realised her question divulged into the realms of it being a jealous curiosity at her skill. "You are so showing me what you do when you're date is over." A date with Fox, then a pseudo-date with Coco Adel. Yup, sounds grand to her. Neo raised a thumb in approval of the idea, then grabbed Fox's hanging hand and walked down the corridor nearly dragging him along with him for the first few metres before he got the idea and started walking at her pace beside her, the grip on his hand removed.

"See you later, I guess. Enjoy yourself Yatsu." Fox called as he slowly recomposed himself.

"You too Fox." Once Yatsuhashi waved his teammate a fond farewell, he shut CFVY's dorm door and went to grab some things out of the draw by his bedside before he heard the very distinct sound of a zip and a clatter of clothes. He turned around only to see Coco and Velvet embracing each other, undressing each other and very passionately making out with one another.

"Could you at least have waited until I'm out of the room first? I still have things to pack up before I meet my family outside Vale for _a day or two_." He emphasised those last words in a fruitless effort to stop their proceedings are make them realise how much time they'd have in solitude together. Whilst the undressing halted for but a moment, both girls still fairly decent, Velvet broke their intertwined lips to utter a single word.

"Ten."

"Thank you." Yatsuhashi started thinking about what he needed to pack; it would be a 90 minute airship ride each way, providing they were empty, then at least an hour's walk at his pace to reach home on the best of conditions. He would need at the very least a change of clothes. Or...

"Nine." His eyes widened as he turned to the girls, still making out but clearly keeping count of the time, maybe based on how often one of them needed to come up for air.

"You're giving me a countdown?" He sounded frustrated, like this wasn't the first time this had happened to him.

"Mm hmm. Eight." On that number, the undressing restarted and Velvet leaned Coco down on to the bed, the Faunus lying atop her partner. Yatsu turned quickly and hastily to grab all the things he could grab from his drawers and a couple of things he didn't, but in his own defence he was kind of under pressure. In all his internal commotion he had completely missed the girl's count of seven.

"Six."

"Yes please," moaned Coco.

"I didn't say 'sex', though I've never heard you ask politely before."

"Well, I _am_ on the bottom at the moment." The look in Velvet's eyes radiated with passion and a lust for the utmost intimacy, especially as Coco had just willingly given her control. The undressing came much faster now as both were flustered and raring to go now, even if their towering tank of a teammate was still packing.

"You two are lucky I am nearly completely impartial to the whole scenario," he sighed, throwing his bag over his shoulder and walking out the door, being careful not to let it swing open completely lest exposing any passing first year or Professor to "Mating Ritual of the Crosshares #15".

* * *

"See you later, I guess. Enjoy yourself Yatsu." Fox called as he slowly recomposed himself. As he turned to walk alongside the smaller girl, he was pretty sure he heard his teammate calling something down the hall, though he couldn't say exactly what it was.

~ _I like her,_ ~ Neo mentioned to Fox via their thoughts. ~ _Very dominant._ ~ With no response, she teased the blind boy by adding, ~ _are you gonna be like that?~_

That got a reaction. "Okay, we are _not_ in a relationship. We are doing this to fool some ancient magical artefact that is currently clinging to our souls into not making us throw ourselves into the other's arms. This is nothing more than 'business'." His milky eyes stared into her metallic blue and for a brief moment Neo/Bubblegum could have sworn she thought he'd actually seen her. Not keen to linger on a trivial fact, she shrugged and continued walking, her inner voice going silent in his head. "Where are you even taking me anyway?" All she offered as an answer was a grin, which literally meant nothing to Fox - you can't react to what you can't see.

**~000~**

"The Park?" Sure enough, Neo had come back to the park where she saw him relaxing a couple of months ago. "Neo, I can come here any time that I like, why would I...?" Fox's foot was trampled over by a couple of children running and screaming. His Aura stopped any damage, but that still didn't stop the look of frustration at the two annoying small people running away from him. The mothers of the two rampant bundles of energy apologised to the Huntsman-in-Training and continued with their idle chit-chat.

The day was nice, the wind was there but not bothering anyone, the sun was out, and although there were white fluffy clouds in the sky they knew their place and actively avoided obscuring the warming rays of the early afternoon. Fox blankly looked around at the green that surrounded him, then towards Neo. He burst his Aura out briefly to get an inkling of what she was doing and where she was leading him. He felt uneasy, this wasn't something he wanted to do. He _wanted_ to sit in his dorm, maybe on the windowsill, and read his book until its final page - but he was reminded of the fact that she held information contained in those final pages that he did not know, and witnessing what she was like beforehand he could tell that information may 'unwillingly' slip out should he irk her in any way.

The boy focussed on the footsteps of Neo, a sound he had now grown accustomed to and could tell them apart from others in a crowd so that should they ever go somewhere overly busy and get separated he could figure out where she... wait... _why_ was he caring if they got separated? That's what he wanted to happen. Wasn't it? Stupid brain... He re-focussed on her footsteps, something that grew more and more tasking as they approached the flowing water of the all too familiar makeshift pond, and trailed the sounds until the stopped. He stopped too, bursting his Aura yet again.

"My tree... you took me to the park - one of my favourite places in Vale - to sit under the tree I always sit under - arguably my favourite place to relax in one of my favourite places in Vale. So inspired..." he sensed the sarcasm hit the petite girl, then the death-stare that followed. There were times he was thankful he could not see; this was one of them, else he would be so far underground right now even the fabled Mountain Glenn would look down at the hole he was boring into the world. The girl grabbed both of his arms in a vice like grip, and a small terrified mini-yelp came from the boy's mouth as he was flung round and hurled into the tree. His Aura hit the bark first, then his spine. A split second later on his Aura reflexes and he may have never walked again. He needed to go see Goodwitch about testing him with some intense reflex training.

Okay, something is definitely up with his head. It may have been the impact, but to first suggest wanting to go to the Infirmary then second to actively choose to go and be subject to Glynda Goodwitch induced nightmare training was crazy.

His body roughly slid down the bark, resting where he'd normally be resting if he came here of his own accord and was not recently chucked into the tree. After a second where he tried to adjust himself, the wind was knocked right out of him as Neo fell down and forcefully lay her head right on Fox's diaphragm. Her heartrate read 'peace' and 'tranquil', whereas Fox's read 'ow' and 'someone help, I've been kidnapped'

"You done yet?" he wheezed, clearly not recovered from the initial crush of his 'date's' forcefulness. Now that she thought about it... Neo lifted her head up and tried scooting the pillow that was Fox's stomach slightly so that she was more comfortable. A tiny giggle escaped from scarred lips as the girl pressed her fingers up against part of his body.

 _He's ticklish_ , she thought, trying (and actually succeeding) in masking her thought from him by busying her mind with other things for him to potentially hear in his head instead. _I've got to remember that._ When she deemed his position satisfactory for her, she lay her head down on him again, softer this time. Fox relaxed on feeling the hair of the woman resting gently on his side rather than slamming into it. Neo waited for all of forty seconds before she was napping. Fox usually did the same, but there were questions that needed to be answered. For starters:

~ _Why am I doing this?_ ~

~ _I can still hear you Fox._ ~

"Right." He tensed up completely - he couldn't have a single moment with her where his thoughts wouldn't be subject to constant surveillance, could he?

But maybe, that was the point.

Who knows?

The boy looked towards the girl, her ever changing Aura still a bit fuzzy to him. He reached out a hand and placed it on her shoulder, closed his eyes and let the image of Neo's Aura bleed into his mind. He'd need some time to let the effects take hold, so he leaned backwards and assumed his usual position of enjoying the openness of the space and the serenity it brought.

* * *

At first, it was the intensity of the glow that he noticed.

Then it was the hum that accompanied it all.

Fox turned his head to one side to see Neo's Aura burning bright around her. He literally had to look away and shield his eyes before trying again with a bit more caution and care.

The clarity of her was astounding; he could see basically all of the details of her face. Her Aura clung to each and every bump on her face, every crook. Every crease of her clothing was highlighted as well. The length of time he'd spent in direct contact with her obviously meant that his trying to familiarise himself with Neo's Aura was stepped up to eleven, then took another full rotation and landed somewhere squarely around twenty. He retracted his hand from her shoulder, or at least he would have had she not caught hold of it in her sleep and gripped it with a soft but powerful grip. He had to admit, he wasn't going to start complaining about the feeling, it was... no! No, he can't think that, there is nothing behind this. There are no feelings; just business.

The grumble of Neo's stomach stirred her from her very deep nap. She looked up at Fox, then noticed her hand intertwined with his. She shot Fox a smug smirk she thought he couldn't see. However,

"So, do you always shoot me smug smirks? Or was that the first?" He _saw_ that?! She pulled her hand away, rising and walked away, embarrassed.

~ _We're getting food. Let's go._ ~ Given she was already on the move, Fox had no choice but to follow. But he found himself gazing at her, the small glow of multi-colour storming of in embarrassment. He'd never seen anyone in this level of detail before, even his own family and teammates had been or are still very recognisable, but not to this extent. It was as if they were sitting at a comfortable 480p, whilst Neo scoffed at them and glowed with her immaculate 4K resolution.

**~000~**

Neo found herself sat at the table closest to the window, Fox directly opposite. She had been here more than a few times, mostly due to the fact that almost no one who worked here stayed for very long, which is why she would always return: no one can recognise you if there is no one here who saw you. Even so, she was always in disguise. But there were two other reasons, and the second reason was walking towards their table, with the third and final reason on her tray.

"There you are hun; one Super-sized Neapolitan Iced Shake!" Their server, a woman with the name "MAGGIE" printed on her name tag, was an Arctic Fox Faunus. Her trait was a big, bushy tail in a colour very close to her hair colour; a mane of magnolia yellow hair, and eyes of brilliant carolina blue. "I know how you enjoy it, so I made it myself the moment I saw you walk in. Nice to see you back. Have fun you two."

The Arctic Fox Faunus' bushy tail deliberately flicked over Neo's hair as she swivelled and made her way back to her post. Neo stared intently, the tail was so fluffy she wanted to run up to it and cuddle it forever. She had a thing for that Faunus, had for a while, - but you couldn't exactly start dating someone from a species your 'partners' were actively trying to wipe off the face of Remnant, knowing full well that you may either wake up one day to find they've been killed or be tasked to kill them yourself. Neo settled on what they were at the moment, with the knowledge that the Faunus happily returned those feelings on equal parts, if that one night of intimacy after her "death" was anything to go by.

~ _That was such an amazing night..._ ~ she reminisced. 

"Was it now? Care to share?" Fox butting into Neo's thoughts caused the usually calm and collected woman to jump and her irises to blink to a pallor that rivalled the colour of her date's.

Her thoughts in her mind expressed the frustration and anger that he couldn't register on her face. ~ _Could you_ _ **not**_ _?_ ~

"Oh, so when you do it, it's perfectly fine. When I do it, it's crossing the line?" He teased her with his words, clearly not completely put off by her intruding in his mind as much. She let the smile creep onto her face as she looked at Fox once more, clearly more relaxed than when he left his dorm that morning. The Beacon student quickly looked around towards the rest of the little café and realised that their waitress wasn't coming back. "So, uh... where's mine?"

~ _Right here._ ~

"But there's only one."

~ _Yup. One drink, two straws._ ~ A blank look was all he gave Neo, clearly not up for that.

"I think I'll go and grab my own Shake, if you don-"

~ _The person who kills Dumbledore is-_ ~

"THAT IDEA SOUNDS LOVELY I'LL TAKE MY STRAW NOW THANKS!" Fox only realised he'd practically shouted his response when he felt a couple of eyes staring right at the back of his head as he took a long and purposeful sip of his - well, their - drink.

~ _Smooth. You are so unbelievable, y'know that?_ ~ Ignoring the comment, he instead decided to talk about the drink on hand.

"Neo, this drink is actually really good."

~ _Yeah. Why do you think I suggested we come here?_ ~

"You didn't 'suggest' this place," he clarified, "you wondered away in a panic, and I had to follow you."

~ _Well, at least you know your place,_ ~ she teased him and shot him another wink and a smirk as she took a slurp from her straw.

"There's that smirk again." The ice cream girl choked on the milkshake slightly as she realised that, for the second time today, her literally blind date had seen her shooting smirks and winks at him. His face dropped slightly as she finished coughing and spluttering. "Hey, are you alright?"

~ _How can you see me? You're blind._ ~ Fox gasped in horror as he reached up and held his hands in front of his eyes, waving them to see if he truly could not see. Taking a page out of one of Coco and Velvet's SFW books, he flung his hand to his head dramatically.

"Oh, woe is me! My girlfriend is right - my sight has gone! I shall never gaze upon her face again..." Neo's face flushed red, not because of the fool that Fox had made of himself (though that contributed), but of a single word.

~ _...Girlfriend?_ ~

"I... what?" Processing his words, his milky eyes widened as he looked at her, hoping that the words would fly out of everyone's ears and right back into his mouth. "Wait that's..."

~ _So you want to make us official? I'm your girlfriend now?_ ~

"Well, I... I mean, there's... err... if we... um..." The more he spoke, the deeper a hole he dug. He halted his ramblings and just stared at Neo.

~ _I take it "just business" is out the window then?_ ~ she offered, twirling the straw in her milkshake as she looked at him intently, waiting for his response.

"It was the artefact talking Neo," he lied, "not me." The girl looked hurt, even her inner voice sounded it.

~ _Oh. Okay. I just thought that..._ ~

Deciding that he wanted the conversation to remain fairly personal and intimate, Fox switched to using his own head voice. ~ _I've never done this before Neo, the whole dating thing. I'm sorry if I overreacted._ ~

~ _I haven't done this before either, Fox. I'm just as in the dark as you._ ~ A small and playful grin caused the corner of her mouth to inch upwards as she clocked what she'd just said. ~ _No offense._ ~

~ _None taken. I don't know how to react or what to say or what to do._ ~

~ _Like I said, neither do I._ ~

~ _But what about,_ ~ he nodded his head towards the counter indicating the Faunus waitress Neo was thinking about earlier, ~ _her - Maggie, was it? Didn't you say you had fun?_ ~

~ _That was different Fox. That was..._ ~ Neo cast her mind back to the night she ran from Roman, Cinder and the others.

She came here as Neo around twenty minutes before closing and sat in her usual spot, still sobbing silently from what had happened. The Faunus waitress came by to see if she was alright, and in a moment of pure instinct, she grabbed the Arctic Fox's face and kissed her. What surprised Neo the most was the fact she didn't pull away, but let the kiss continue. That was, until she realised that she was still on her shift and had to act professionally, especially with her boss potentially looming over to see what was happening. But the subtle whisper of "wait here until we're closed" kept Neo planted firmly in her seat and somewhat eager to see what happens now, even if that eagerness was squashed under the layers of sadness.

After her shift was done for the night, the two headed back to the Faunus' abode, where she and Neo spent their time in each other's arms relieving any tension the pair had stored up in a night of just sex; no emotion behind it - at least not on the Faunus' part. After the night was over and they'd ridden out any highs they were on, the woman who could speak said that she didn't want them to go any further than this, that the night was amazing because there weren't any feelings behind it. But even so, her door would be open for Neo if she ever needed it - so long as she didn't just sneak in - and they could do something like this again in the future.

Neo nodded at the proposition reluctantly (though the Faunus didn't need to know about that last part), and they went their separate ways after that - Neo off to chase Fox around Vale, whilst the Faunus went back to work.

~ _...that night wasn't anything to do with relationships or anything. Yeah, I enjoyed myself, and she did too. But it was purely sex. It's always been purely sex with me. I never have had any chance to take things slowly, I'd be moved on soon after I got somewhere, so I took my chances with whoever was willing and just go at it with them. Sometimes it's just that, other times..._ ~ she looked over at the Faunus again. ~ _Other times, it's a little harder to walk away - I got attached. She was one of those times. With you it's, well, different._ ~ Fox reached across the table and placed his hand on Neo's, a gesture she greatly appreciated.

~ _Neo, we're going to make it through this. This artefact inside us, we can - we will beat it._ ~ "I promise." Neo wiped away the solitary tear that fell down her face as she took one final slurp through her straw, finishing the milkshake.

~ _C'mon Fox, the day's drawing in slightly and I need to head somewhere before it closes for the day._ ~

"Sure thing." The couple rose and walked out of the café with arms linked. Neo took one final look back at the Arctic Fox Faunus, who saw them leaving and blew Neo a kiss followed by a thumbs up at the scene she saw. Neo winked and waved back, then headed with her date to their next location.

"Why didn't you say something to her earlier?" the café owner, a large, grey bearded man with a voice that you really wouldn't associate with his description, asked. "I think she liked you back."

"Too late for that now, Pol," Maggie sighed.

"It wasn't back then." The owner went back to doing what he was before as the Faunus sighed defeated, glancing over at the table her cute little crush was sitting moments before, her giant milkshake glass being removed by another member of staff.

"I know..."

* * *

The shop was on the outside of Vale's main shopping district, it made sense that Fox had never seen it before. But given its sheer size, he was also really amazed how he couldn't have seen it.

What was he saying? He'd never seen _any_ of Vale.

Walking inside it was like entering an Aladdin's Cave of Materials and Equipment that no one could even begin to comprehend. Neo walked up to the man behind the counter with a smile and a bounce in her step, pinging the bell on top to draw his attention away from his work.

"Hello, how can I... Little Neo! Delightful to see you again so soon." The man stood no taller than Fox, but his confidence and charisma would have dwarfed even a Goliath in size. Despite the fact he looked to be in his mid to late thirties, his hair was thinning quite significantly, though due to how amazingly bright his blond hair was it could all just be a trick of the light. It was well kept and trimmed immaculately, each hair not looking a fraction out of place. Business was quite busy for them even at this time of day and everything ran smoothly around him, so the man wandered round to greet one of his best customers, his practical blue jeans, open collar white shirt and mint green waistcoat hugging his form.

"I must say Neo, you have done a marvellous job as always with what you asked for." Neo stepped back slightly, giving a little twirl and curtsying afterwards, something Fox actually found incredibly cute about the woman, considering what she had been like less than a day prior. "I'm honestly surprised at you; you can put together complete outfits like that in a fraction of the time some of us can do it in, why _don't_ you want to work with us? To be able to do something like that all day, and be paid to do so." She shook her head then vanished behind Fox and grabbed him in a very light headlock out of nowhere, smiling up at the man. "Ah yes, of course. Your fighting; wouldn't want to get in the way of that." He grinned as the boy and girl struggled against one another, though neither put any effort into their actions. "Come on then Neo. Show me what you want today." He turned and started walking towards the large mass of colourful materials at the rear of the shop. Neo leaned herself down to gently kiss Fox on the cheek, leaving a very faint mark from her lipstick there, then released his head from the grip she held over him and followed the man.

~ _You're going to pay for that Neo,_ ~ Fox thought with a smirk.

~ _I look forward to it._ ~ The boy ran after her, grabbing her hand and pulling her along a little bit faster than what she was normally used to in order to be directly behind the Sales Assistant. ~ _Hey, what does Coco like?_ ~

"Coco?"

The Sales Assistant spun around. "What was that?"

"Oh, nothing. I... got a message on my Scroll from a friend." The man nodded and continued on. Fox breathed a sigh of relief. Constantly flitting between internal and external voices with Neo could get interesting if everyone else only heard part of their conversation. "Sorry, what did you say again?"

~ _What sort of things does Coco like? Materials, colours, that sort of thing._ ~

The boy had to think on that question for a little bit, he didn't pay too much attention to his team leader outside of missions - that was Velvet's job. "Well I mean, she likes Velvet. Her girlfriend mostly, but the material's a good shout too. She's a fan of brown-y colours, especially 'mocha' I think she said - basically the colours of her combat outfit are her favourite. But don't tell her I told you this-" Neo gave him a look; how  _could_ she tell anyone anything? "-but she really wants to incorporate some scarlet or deep red into her outfits, so that she always has Velv close even when she's not there, but has never truly found the right way to do so."

Neo's eyes darted around, taking in every bit of material that was available to her. You'd think that having visited the place three days ago she'd remember what was here. Whilst that was the case, she needed to reassess and formulate a plan. After a minute of thinking and another minute of spending looking at the colours favoured by CFVY's team leader, she spoke to Fox.

~ _If I tell you what to get, could you get it for me?_ ~

"How?"

~ _Okay,_ ~ she corrected, ~ _if you speak to one of the members of staff with the list I'll give you, could you carry the stuff for them whilst **they** grab the materials for me?_~

"Sure," he smirked.

~ _Cool. For the larger stuff, if they question it, mention my name, but say that I'm doing it for a friend so I'll need the extra metre or two of material. They shouldn't ask, but if they do._ ~

"Seems easy enough." She smiled, then proceeded to tell Fox exactly what materials he needed to get for her, and in the sizes too. Before he left though, she wiped the faint lipstick marks off his cheek, else he wouldn't have done anything about it and they would have stayed there until he next showered. She didn't need any teasing from Coco or Velvet just yet. Once that was taken care of and he was off around the workshop with a helpful member of staff, Neo popped on over to her friend in the mint waistcoat who was sorting out some of the smaller pieces of equipment and materials Neo needed like threads and needles.

"So Neo; is that your boyfriend?" Neo's smile dropped to a half-smile as that question echoed in her head. Was Fox her boyfriend? I mean, he said she was his girlfriend. But, he then followed that up with 'it was the artefact talking', so probably not. She shook her head. "Sorry to assume; it was the lipstick you're wearing, made me jump to conclusions. Your date then?" This brought her smile back up a little as she nodded. She _knew_ going the extra mile to look good for this would pay off. "Wow, and you're already bringing him here? That's impressive, you didn't even bring your colleagues here when you were working with them." The pair glanced over at the copper haired boy who was darting between different lanes of cloths and materials after the employee, the rolls of cloth he was carrying increasing with each trip. "I saw the way you two were holding each other as well. You must have found someone truly amazing if he's treating you like this whilst you're still dating but not official. I presume it's pretty far along then the lines then?" Without breaking her gaze from the Beacon student, she shook her head and raised a solitary finger. "First date?! My, my, Neo - you really must have found your soulmate then."

_Soulmate._

Those words brought Neo's fantasy down with an almighty crash - that's the only reason that they were together right now. All of this was because of that artefact. She felt the sudden urge to run and get away from everything, but she'd only be running back to the café again where the Faunus was, and that'd just make things even more awkward for her. In an effort to hide her utter shame at the fact this was - as Fox had put it - 'just business', she feigned really needing the toilet all of a sudden.

"Oh, sorry Neo. Same as always; door past the Dust Infused cloths. Code hasn't changed, 1804." She smiled and hurried off, keeping up her appearance until she was safely in the bathroom.

Fox carefully staggered his way back to the main counter after fulfilling his cloth mule duties for the day, balancing many different rolls of materials in his arms that threatened to tumble out of his arms and escape into the wilderness at a moment's notice.

"Alright Neo, I'm back so..." he couldn't feel the woman anywhere nearby. "Excuse me," he beckoned the man who walked them over, "Neo was talking to you earlier, right? Where is she now?"

"Oh, she's in the bathroom. I'll let you in, she _has_ been in there rather a long time." The pair of them walked across the shop to the code-locked door, the waistcoat wearing staff member keyed in the code for Fox and let him enter. The blind boy eased his way in, trying his best to make as little noise and disturbance as he could. With a quick Aura burst he saw... nothing? The man had definitely said she was still in here. He ventured further down the staff bathroom and tried again, activating his semblance to get a better view of his surroundings. Whilst very faint, he finally made out the image of Neo hiding behind a shut door of one of the toilets curled up and hugging her own legs. He walked up to the door and tried to open it, but felt a strong resistance of Neo's small but very powerful legs keeping it shut.

~ _Neo._ ~ Her head rose at the sound of his voice inside her head, but quickly she buried it back in between her legs again. He tried once more to open the door and when that proved fruitless he rested his back against it and slid down to the floor; these clothes needed a wash anyway, so adding some toilet grime to them just gave him more reason to do so. ~ _Neo, what's the matter?_ ~ The silence was uncomfortable. Even for a mute, Neo felt the same. She needed to say something to Fox, she owed him that much.

~ _What are we Fox?_ ~

~ _How do you mean?_ ~

~ _You and me. What would you call this?_ ~

~ _I... wouldn't know... Going off what this should be, we're business partners and this is just our business: we keep the artefact 'satisfied' essentially._ ~ The knot that wound in Neo's stomach was unbearable. ~ _And yet, it feels like you don't want that, and I have to admit I don't either._ ~

~ _Really?_ ~ came her hopeful reply.

~ _I hated this at first. You threw me into a tree, and it still hurts. But when you were using me as your pillow I decided that if we were in this for the long haul, it'd be in my best interests to get a better feel of your Aura, so I did that; but I dozed off. When I woke, I could see you so much clearer than anyone I ever had done that to before, even my own parents and teammates. And I felt a greater connection as well._

 _~That might have been a mistake on my part initially for dozing off, but everything that came after was anything but. This_ _isn't_ _the artefact talking Neo, this is me. Know that when I say this: I like you._ ~ The faintest of gasps could be heard on the other side of the door, had Fox been paying attention. He hadn't been, so he missed it, but it was there. ~ _I'm sure you'll agree that over the course of an entire day together we have become pretty tight. Don't get me wrong, I've enjoyed this quote, unquote "date" - but it felt forced, like we had to do it. What do you say we schedule a proper date in a couple of days' time, do something together where we_ _want_ _to do it?_ ~ The silence returned. It dragged out much longer than the first one, and stung the blind boy so much harder to boot.

He couldn't take the silence; he needed to know she was alright. He turned round and rested his hands and ear on the door, trying to hear what was behind the door better

~ _Neo, wh-_ ~ before Fox knew it he was laying face first on the floor as the door opened. He glanced up to see Neo's Aura once more, burning with the same brightness he saw when he first woke from his nap in the park. The moment he regained some composure, the ice cream themed girl flung herself at him and hugged him tight, silent sobs of joy flowing through her. He returned the gesture in earnest.

~ _Let's get back. It's getting dusky and we've got a lot to take back._ ~

"Take back where?" he questioned, his voice finally getting a little bit of exercise after a long stint of talking in their heads.

~ _Well, we'll head back to your dorm. You can call it early and finish your book tonight - tomorrow if you can't manage that - whilst I get a few things from Coco. I'll head home when I'm done._ ~ Fox wanted to argue, to say that he'll take her stuff with him to hers first. But the way Neo was acting, the true Neo as opposed to the killer that she was trained to believe was her 'true self', made him retract his thoughts and comply.

"It's a done deal. Now, let's get all this stuff paid for."

* * *

After a quick pit stop at Fox's locker to drop most of the materials in there (a task they extremely underestimated, considering how much of Fox's stuff they'd need to relocate in the locker to fit enough of the day's purchases in there to deem the whole thing worthwhile), Fox and Neo made their way back to the Team CFVY dorm room, arms linked together. Neo was still carrying a tape measure whilst Fox carried a notepad that already had some things in it, a stylus and a slate in his free hand.

"I enjoyed today Neo. I really did."

~ _Me too Fox. Thank you.~_ The boy laughed at the statement, causing the woman to furrow her brow at him. ~ _What is so funny?_ ~

"You're thanking me."

~ _Um... yes._ ~

"Unless you've forgotten, you _blackmailed_ me into coming on this with you. So, you're thanking me is basically saying 'Thank you Fox for surrendering to the terms of my blackmail'." Neo's grip on Fox's arm loosened, she was ready to ride the wave of embarrassment that was encroaching upon her all the way to the shattered moon and beyond, but a scarred arm drew her closer and a forehead rested atop her wig of fluorescent blue. "I'm glad you did that Neo; today would never have happened if you hadn't. Remember that." The once loose grip returned as the couple walked through the hallway in relative peace. Once at the dorm door, Fox turned completely so that he was facing Neo and gave the girl a big, warm hug.

~ _What's this in aid of?_ ~

"For helping me realise that even the worst of things can be turned into good with the right people by your side."

~ _Sap,_ ~ she teased, returning the hug. Fox broke the hug, swiped his Scroll and stepped into the room, only to stumble and fall over something right in the doorway. The combination of Neo's quick reflexes and his own stopped him from causing an almighty crash on the floor, but when Neo glanced up at the room she really didn't think that would have been an issue. As the shattered moonlight started seeping in through the crack in the curtains, Neo could make out a few things lying around.

First, the object that Fox slipped on was small in size, but very identifiable in shape - she'd personally liken it to an oversized, purple cylindrical tube of lipstick with a coned edge on one side. Looking up a bit more she saw a pile of clothes belonging to Coco and Velvet; that much she knew. What she didn't know was that those clothes had been sitting in that exact same spot for the entire time that she and Fox were together that day which - considering that night time was upon them - put it somewhere around the 8 hour mark.

She shuffled forward deeper into the room and felt her foot come into contact with something that made a very metallic clink as she did so. She knelled down and inspected the mystery item, only to back off ever so slightly as she saw that the items were in fact a pair of regular handcuffs, along with an Officer hat and a (clearly fake) badge that originally had the word ' **CONSTABLE** ' scrawled over it, but there were a few major modifications to the writing to make it say something far more... vulgar.

And finally she saw the perpetrators; Coco and Velvet, fast asleep on the latter's bed with only the Faunus wearing an item of clothing between them, and even then said item was only a pair of knee high boots that appeared to be from her girlfriend's own closet.

~ _Fox... I still need her measurements._ ~ Even inside his head, Neo sounded apprehensive about the whole ordeal.

~ _Could it wait?_ ~ he asked nervously.

~ _It **could** , but the sooner it's done, the better, really. And if she doesn't know about it, that's even better._~

~ _Well then, I'm staying WAAYY over here!_ ~ he said, jumping onto his bed and landing silently with only the faintest squeak of the mattress' springs making a sound, a sound he realised the room had probably heard a lot of today. ~ _That part's on you. I'm on writing duty._ ~

~ _I hate you._ ~

~ _No you don't._ ~ Neo eased her way towards the bed, then turned back to Fox to ask;

~ _What's the first measurement I wrote down again?_ ~

~ _Height, in feet and inches._ ~ She looked at Coco, who wasn't exactly in the best of positions as is, let alone the fact that Velvet had a hold of her as well. Her mind was on track to ask _how the hell am I meant to get her height like this_ , before Fox answered ~ _6 foot in heels, about 5'9" without._ ~

~ _Okay, how do you know that?_ ~

~ _First week of our first year. Coco's family big in the fashion industry, so she naturally asked a few things about how we dress ourselves in case she wanted or needed to get something for us. She was curious about it all, but when the question came up about Yatsuhashi's height we all compared. None of us have grown at all since then, and Coco was about a foot shorter than him in 2/2.5 inch heels, and he's 7 feet tall._ ~

~ _He's how tall?!_ ~

~ _7 feet dead._ ~ Neo's eyes widened in shock.

~ _He's over two feet taller than me..._ ~

~ _Focus on how big he is later._ ~

~ _But I want to focus on how big you are instead._ ~ Realising the intent behind her words, not least from the purr Neo added to her internal voice as she said that, Fox quickly jumped to the next measurement, making sure to mentally shout them at Neo to dissuade her from doing anything like that again in the near future.

~ _Hollow-to-Hem Measurement next!_ ~ "Whatever  _that_ means..." he muttered to himself under his breath. Neo smirked at how easy it was to make the blind boy go all awkward over a scenario that to her was as easy to talk about as breathing was. She didn't know that Fox wasn't too bad at talking about it, but more as a general subject rather than it on a more personal level. She gave her measurement, then moved on to the next one.

~ _Hips._ ~ Neo tried her best to avoid Velvet as she reached across once again to measure Coco.

~ _She has a really nice bum,_ ~ she mentioned offhandedly.

~ _You're supposed to be measuring her, not copping a feel!_ ~

~ _Can't a girl do both?_ ~

~ _Not really, no. Kind of bad, considering she hasn't consented to you doing it or anything either._ ~

~ _I'm measuring her, and I just so happened to feel her bum and comment on how nice it is. What is there to-_ ~

~ _Hips?_ ~ Another number given. ~ _Waist. And do it properly, without feeling her up - I'm not going to defend you if she wakes up and starts accusing._ ~

~ _But she's so-_ ~

~ _Neo, pull yourself together!_ ~

~ _Spoil sport..._ ~ Waist, along with arm, front and back waist length were given without a hitch - though Fox did wonder why you needed three different waist related measurements. He reached the final patch of braille on the page.

~ _Bu... really?_ ~ Fox just about made out the nod from across the room. Neo knew what the measurement was, so proceeded to wrap her tape around Coco's bust.

"...again Velvet?" Coco mumbled in her exhausted state. Both Neo and Fox froze in place as the boy's team leader stirred. "...we've not long finished..." Neo shot Fox a worried glance, her tape neatly covering the middle of the fashionista's breasts to give the most accurate bust reading but the girl was fidgeting so much now that getting that reading was becoming more and more of an impossibility. "...alright, you... power crazy bitch..." Coco grabbed what she thought was the back of her girlfriend's head and pulled it down on to her own lips. Fox heard the kissing commence, and he saw Neo and Coco's Aura's mesh together in the embrace, and all he could think to do was turn to the wall and pray to whichever Gods would listen to make this end.

Neo felt kind of... nice about the whole thing. Shocked at first, as everyone would be, but over time she grew to like it. I mean, she did think Coco was hot, and she was the one making all the moves. Sleepy eyes parted to glance at Velvet, only for the fluorescent blue bangs of Bubblegum to be there instead. She screamed through the kiss, waking Velvet up. Neo teleported from their sights completely before either of the now-wide awake girls could truly register what was going on. Coco looked at Velvet, then at the space where someone was, then back at Velvet, and finally trained her eyes up to stare at the back of Fox's head.

"Fox?" The boy, despite being blind, kept his head facing the wall out of courtesy whilst he answered.

"Yeah?"

"I swear I saw Neo a moment ago. Is she here?"

"Coco, Neo and I parted at the door fifteen minutes ago. There's no one else here except me. I will say whilst I have your attention, that you both need to clean up in here. I nearly fell over whatever you have laying around twice on my way to the bed." The resident Team CFVY couple stared at the mess they'd made of the floor in the room and looked at each other for a third time.

"Please Fox," Velvet asked rather sheepishly, her blush so prominent on her face the boy was pretty sure the colour was seeping into her Aura, "just... don't get out of bed during the night. We'll clean up our things in the morning."

"Okay." And with that he lay down and pretended to fall asleep, all while Neo hid behind his body on the floor by the far side of his bed so they couldn't see her. The girls whispered something and eventually did fall asleep once again.

~ _I kissed Coco Adel!_ ~ Neo whooped, a cheeky grin on her face.

~ _Big whoop; so have I. But neither of us can really say she was in the right frame of mind when she was doing so, so it doesn't count. She thought she was kissing Velvet with you, and she was so unbelievably drunk with me that I thought she would pass out part way through._ ~

~ _I bet you still enjoyed it though._ ~

There was a pregnant pause whilst Fox carefully formulated a response. ~ _...yeah, a little,_ ~ he finally admitted. The boy smirked at his friend, who shot him a smirk back. ~ _I really love your smirk, by the way._ ~

~ _You never explained how you can see me smirking._ ~

~ _And I still won't... now. I'll explain later. You'll be needing these, I believe._ ~ He handed her the notepad with the braille inscribed measurements on the paper. Having both of them know the language meant that, so long as no one else from Team CFVY knows it, no one could know what they were planning.

~ _Thanks Fox._ ~

~ _So what were you doing tomorrow?_ ~

~ _I've got a mannequin to construct, which may take all day. I usually only do this sort of thing for myself, so I haven't needed one for years._ ~

~ _And what about the day after that? You free?_ ~

~ _Why, you got something planned?_ ~

~ _I might... why are you asking?_ ~

~ _Because I'd like to do that thing with you, if that's not too much trouble._ ~

~ _No trouble at all. In fact, I'd prefer it if you came with._ ~

~ _Then it's a date!_ ~ The word hit her. She'd just called it a date. _Could_ she call it a date, or was it too early to do so? ~ _Is it... a date?_ ~

~ _If you want it to be, then it can be._ ~ The woman rose to give the boy a hug, a gesture he met on the way rather than being surprised by it for once.

~ _I will see you then!_ ~

~ _...really? Sight jokes?_ ~ Metallic blue eyes winked as she leaned in and planted a soft kiss on the boy's cheek.

~ _You love 'em, don't deny it._ ~ Before he could get another word in, Neo was gone from the dorm completely in a shower of shards. Fox rolled onto his back with a smile on his face. Neo stood outside Beacon's school grounds with an equally large smile. Both people, despite being far enough apart to have their thoughts to themselves again, had the exact same thing run through their minds:

_I actually have a date!_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaand, breathe.


	14. Winding Down, Prepping Up

Fox was always the first to rise from Team CFVY. He didn't really rely on alarms, only his own personal body clock. He was up and reading his book at the earliest possible chance he could get - whilst he knew that she probably wouldn't use it anymore, he wasn't going to give Neo another chance at spoiling the ending for him. He read as fast as he could manage, disregarding any lessons he was taught about re-reading passages just to make sure they were right and ploughed on through to the final page in record time for him. As he got there, he heard the two girls further in the room stir from their slumber. Just so they didn't feel too embarrassed about the whole situation, Fox lay on his side with his back to the room much as he did when Neo "disappeared" last night. He felt the girls moving around the room, muttering quietly to the other as they picked up various things for the floor, including a couple of things that he and Neo didn't spot themselves. It seemed like the pair of them had a lot of fun with each other yesterday. Once it was all packed up and hidden away, he heard one of them jump in the shower. Taking the cue, he slowly yawned and 'woke up' a second time, facing the room and noticing that Velvet was sitting on the bed across the room, now in some proper nightwear, meaning Coco was showering.

"Morning Velvet."

"Hey Fox..." Even after everything that happened, there was still unease in her voice. "You... didn't see anything with me and Coco, did you?" The boy let out a quick chuckle.

"Okay, first." A tanned finger pointed to milky white eyes, causing the Faunus to audibly cringe at her question.

"Sorry! Sorry, I forgot."

"Velvet it's fine, I'm just teasing. And second, no I didn't see anything." This was true. However, Neo did. And Neo was informing him about everything she saw as she walked around the room, so he knew. "I just stumbled over a couple of things."

"That's... sorry. We... did you know what... well, what we were doing?"

"Judging by what you said and how you said it, " and by his girlfriend's descriptions of the items on the floor... wait. _Was_ she his girlfriend yet? Questions for later. "I can take an educated guess."

"Right... It won't happen again. We just had the room to ourselves and we kind of went... overboard."

"You're telling me. When did you kick off?"

"I don't think you were out of the corridor yet." Coco answered, walking through the bathroom door with a towel hugging her body and a second drying her hair. He hadn't actually heard her stop the shower. "Yatsu sure as hell wasn't."

"What do you guys mean?"

"Well..." Velvet didn't seem too keen on sharing that information with a teammate. Coco, on the other hand, had no such trouble doing so.

"We started making out and stripping before he had even gone. Velvs even gave him a countdown." Fox couldn't help but laugh, a sound that helped lighten the uncomfortable Faunus' mood as well.

"So you two were going at it for basically the entire time Neo and I were out? I've got to hand it to you, that's impressive."

"Well," Coco said draping her still-not-completely dry arms around the back of her girlfriend "that's what I came to expect when I started dating a Rabbit Faunus." Despite how she felt at the start of the conversation, the shy girl had clearly relaxed a little to bite back at her partner.

"Oh shut up you!"

"Yes mistress" she responded with a bow of the head.

"Um, guys. Still here." The awkward silence lasted all of three seconds before everyone started laughing hearty laughs. They had grown to know each other well over the year and a half they'd been a team, so things like this were just par for the course now.

"So Fox, how'd it go with Neo yesterday?" Coco's giggled eased off at her girlfriend's question.

"Well, it started out rather slow. We went to the park-"

"So inspired." the leader interrupted.

"I know, I said that! I was then thrown into a tree because of it."

"Ouch..."

"Yup, it's still a little sore from yesterday."

"I know the feeling."

"Coco!"

"Sorry hun."

"Anyway, we spent a while there and I thought I'd make good use of the time we spent napping under my tree, so I started to familiarise myself with her Aura. But I dozed off, and when I woke I could practically see her. You know how I've described how you all look to me? Well, in comparison, you look like shit."

"Thanks Fox."

"You're welcome. But seriously though, she was crystal clear. Sure, she glowed the colour of her Aura but I could see her like you can all see. I felt a connection too, something deeper than I ever had before. It felt... I dunno, warm I guess."

"Oh my Oum, Fox is falling in love!" Coco squealed, a slight habit she'd picked up from Velvet, as she hugged her Faunus girlfriend a little tighter with pride.

"Am I?"

"Yes, you idiot! C'mon, what'd you do next?"

"Well, she stormed off-"

"Oh..." Coco's mood flipped like a switch on hearing that. "Shit."

"It's not bad though. I think it was because I saw her smirk at me. Did she do that a lot before?"

"Yes, she did." Velvet remembered all the times they were in here talking to one another in Sign and how Neo really frequently shot Fox smirks because she knew he couldn't see them.

"Well, when I saw it she panicked and stormed off. It's the first time I'd seen her so flustered, and it was actually kind of cute." Velvet pressed an elbow into Coco to get her attention, and with their eye contact they both nodded; he was definitely falling. "Once I caught up we went to a little café and shared a Milkshake."

"Aww, that's so a first date thing!"

"See I think we agreed that it wasn't."

"No Fox, that it most definitely a first date thing to do; share a Milkshake. It's like, fourth or fifth on Cliché Date Ideas 101."

"I'm not denying that, but both Neo and I agreed that yesterday wasn't a first date, _even if_ what we did was very first date-y. Yesterday happened because we needed to do it, but as the day progressed, we got comfortable and started to enjoy it. We went to one of her favourite shops and got some s-" Probably not wise to mention that sort of thing here, considering that Neo's making something _for_ Coco. "To get some clothes for her - petite women have trouble finding somewhere that'd stock clothes for them. Providing everything goes smoothly on her end today, our official first date is tomorrow." Fox heard two pairs of feet hit the dorm floor, then suddenly felt arms thrown round his neck as he was tackled to the bed in a double hug from Coco and Velvet.

"Our little Fox Cub is finally outgrowing the Den!" Coco cooed, ushering Velvet to giggle into his chest. Fox's response however stopped the laughter dead.

"Coco... your towel..." The fashionista glanced down and noticed that her towel had indeed dropped and that she was hugging him with her naked body. With a quick glance at Velvet, who shrugged the whole thing off - Fox wouldn't do anything, Coco proceeded to continue the hug.

"What do you care? You can't see me anyway, and you've got your own girlfriend to stare at instead of me." There it was again, 'Neo' and 'Girlfriend' effectively being mentioned in the same sentence. The pair of them needed to talk, and this was a priority question now. "Consider this a friendly 'Team Trust Exercise'."

"Can you at least put some underwear on?" he offered.

Coco ignored the question. "So, not seeing her today at all?"

"Not today, no. She told me to finish the book, which I now have, and that she's got some work to do today that would require her full attention." That, at least, was vague enough to not draw suspicion.

"I thought _you'd_ be the only thing she'd want to focus on Fox" she teased.

"Coco, I'm sure you've got a lot to say about where we are right now in terms of 'relationships', but please - shut up."

"I'm just offering my expert opinion on what to do at this stage and give my advice on places you could go that aren't too cliché."

"See, even _you_ with all you 'dating expertise' can't avoid cliché."

"Just because they're cliché doesn't mean they're bad - just overused. Besides, cliché worked fine with Velvs here, didn't it hunny-bun?"

"Coco you were a bumbling mess on the first few dates." Velvet was greeted by a quick fist to the side.

"You are not helping my cause!"

"I'm sorry, was I meant to be helping you?"

"Moving on," the blind boy continued, "I think I've got an idea for where I want to go with her tomorrow anyway."

"Atta boy Fox," Coco said, ruffling his copper hair. "Now, I want to just have a nice, relaxing day. How's that sounds, hunny?"

"Sounds fab. I'm still going to take a lap or two around the grounds though; pretty sure spending all day sat around after our little session yesterday is going to cause muscles to ache something fierce when you start moving again."

"And I'm going to get breakfast first, then I'll come back afterwards, might do some work, might give Neo a call later as well."

"That's a thing, how are you going to communicate outside of person-to-person? She can't call you, you can't really message her."

"...Good point. We'll figure that out later."

"Suit yourselves, I'm going to stay right here."

"No you're not. At the very least you are getting up and moving back to your bed so that Velvet and I can get ready to get breakfast and go for a run."

"Other than that, I'm staying right here."

"Deal. First things first though; Coco, please put some underwear on."

Coco relented. "Ugh, fine."

* * *

Neo always worked with music. It helped her relax and let her feel free.

Every beat of the song she could do something with; on each cymbal crash, she could finish stitching that pocket in, that long guitar solo was the perfect length for her to hold that material in the dip-dye, that ridiculously high note near the end of the song would serve as a perfect bench mark to remind her about the hem she needed to finish soon.

It also kept her mind free from distractions.

Sadly, Scrolls don't last forever. They need time to recharge so that they can operate at maximum efficiency for as long as they needed to, much like people. And for Neo, part way through one of her favourite songs was not the best time for her Scroll to decide to call it quits. Honestly, if Neo knew that she would be able to get another one quickly and easily, and that everything on her old Scroll would be transferred over then she would have smashed the thing in frustration. But she couldn't, so she didn't, and instead was letting it charge nearby. This left her alone with her thoughts.

 _Why Fox?_ The question she asked herself so many times. It's not like Remnant was a world full of people so ugly that mirrors became outlawed due to their inherent nature to break at the sight of anyone, there were tonnes of attractive people everywhere. Even then, the less attractive ones were still good fun to be with.

Neo was Pansexual, in every sense of the word. Were they cute/hot/funny? Kiss 'em. That goes well? Get 'em in bed - doesn't matter if they're male, female or Faunus (though she personally didn't see the difference in most cases). She had plenty of experience with that.

Her first time was with a guy. Just a normal guy. No high-end businessman, no fully fledged Huntsman. Just a normal, 'Average Joe'. His name might have actually been Joe, she couldn't remember. She had a few more like Joe; some were definitely better than others. The last 'Average Joe' she had was so bad that she needed something else, someone else, anyone else. That's when she realised she didn't care who she went after, as long as they were better than him (which they all were).

Before long she had found an annoyingly attractive young woman going by the name of Riley. Soon after that she was in bed with Riley. The night was slow at first - neither had been with another woman before - but once that hurdle was crossed the rest of the night went great. After Riley, she had something with a Lizard Faunus in Vacuo. She only realised he was part Lizard when they were making out and his tongue literally wrapped around her own. Fair to say, she avoided going after Faunus' for a while.

Then she met with Roman. She made a name for herself as a mercenary. She'd kill for money, and she was good. She was better off than she had been on her own, perks of working for/with a high end criminal. In this time, she decided to play things more dangerously. She went after Huntsman and Huntresses, both official and potential. Funnily enough, Atlas proved to be the best place of the Four Kingdoms and Academies for that sort of thing. I guess having a strict military regime means that there are more things that are 'out of line' and thus more people raring for something a little dangerous. Dancing with death, getting intimate with a person who could be knocking down her door in a futile attempt to arrest her; that was an eventful evening - she'd never fought anyone whilst she was in the nude before but she wanted to try it again sometime, her opponents were distracted to the high heavens, and it was hilarious.

When Neo was in Vale she had very little luck with anyone. The Arctic Fox Faunus from the café broke her stigma from before and the draught. The night they had was the best she had ever had, and had the whole thing with Fox never happened she would have probably gone back there again. She liked the woman, there felt like there was slightly more passion that night, more like making love, than there had been before with anyone else where it seemed more like having sex. There were others who she just kissed but left it at that; Coco now being one to add to that quite expansive list along with the weird Lizard Faunus, and there were plenty more who she had gone further with as well.

But then there was Fox.

The thing with Fox had stretched out far longer than she thought it would; 2 months since they'd "died" and just a little bit less since she thought there was something with him. Under normal circumstances, it would take a week at best to go through her normal steps:

Step 1) Find someone who looks cute/hot, and/or someone who's funny. Step 2) Follow them and get them interested. Step 3) Kiss them when the time comes. Step 4) Take it further, if they feel like it. They often did, but not everyone fancied taking that dive. Step 5) Disappear from their lives.

But Neo couldn't do what she normally did. There was something about Fox that was different. Granted, the fact that his soul contained the other half of a magical artefact that wants to be whole might make her more inclined to be drawn towards him, but she didn't feel that anymore. Nearer the start there was no question. But now, there was genuine affection there. There _had_ to be. That thing in the store, that was most certainly play fighting. She could have held him tighter so that he couldn't escape and, at the strength she was holding that headlock, Fox could have very easily broken free. Neither did what they could have done. Why? And the kisses, all of the little kisses she kept giving him on the cheek; why? They'd kissed before, they'd made out before. Neither had control over what they were doing when that started, but they had kissed. And Neo had kissed many people beforehand. Why was kissing him on the lips such a difficult thing to do?

A sharp pain flew through her nerves. She retracted her finger and shook it around, sending a drop of blood somewhere into the room. She looked down and saw the pin prick on her finger. She'd not done that for a long time. But then again, she wasn't distracted by Fox when she'd done this before.

Were she capable of making sounds, she would have groaned in frustration as she fell backwards on to the floor.

 _W_ _hy Fox?_ Rather than let the question simmer away in her mind, she put down her tools and decided to answer the question outright. She closed her eyes and covered her ears with her headphones despite them not being plugged into anything, letting the only thing she could sense be the floor underneath her and her own voice inside her head.

 _Well for starters, the Parchment of Volentes. Without that, this probably would have never worked._ Not where she wanted to go with that.

Refocus.

 _Why Fox? He is an attractive person physically. The scars are really quite cool, it shows he's the kind of person that can take a hit and still carry on. His hair's scruffy, but deliberately so, and yet still clean. He's a Huntsman-in-Training, meaning he's a fighter and he is willing to lay his life on the line for the greater good. It means he's able to make split-second decisions, though clearly not about us. He's actually got really comfortable abs, I could have lay there forever if I didn't get hungry. He's blind. He's judging me on what I do and not what I look like, which is nice. His hands were so smooth despite the scars covering everywhere else. We can speak, which is a miracle in of... no, avoid_ _ **anything**_ _to do with that artefact, focus on Fox! Stop worrying about it, the artefact isn't making the decisions about him, you are! It's trying to force you to love him, but you've already made your mind up about that! You didn't need its help to know how you feel about him!_ ' Her eyes shot open and a single tear fell down her cheek. That was it, the self-confession she needed. That's why everything seemed so different this time around.

_Why Fox? Because I lo-_

The ringing of her Scroll made her jump in surprise and broke through her thoughts violently. She wiped her tears away as she walked over to answer it. By Sod's Law, it was Fox.

_Speak of the Devil._

She clicked the answer button.

 _*Hey Ni, Fox here. Um... could you swap this to Video Call? I want to try something.*_ An odd request, but one she wasn't going to ignore. She flicked through the settings and got it so that it was now a Video Call. Up popped Fox's face and the room behind him. He was still in his dorm, sat on his bed with no book surrounding him. Neo cocked her head, did that mean he'd already finished? That took him way less time than she thought it would. _*Coco, is it on video call right now?*_ he asked his leader just off screen.

 _*It is,*_ she answered, _*but why do **you** , of all people, want to video call someone?*_

 _*Thanks for your help Coco,*_ he dismissed.

 _*You didn't answer my question, Alistair!*_ Uh oh, last name.

 _*I'll... explain later.*_ His team leader dropped the subject, for now. _*Right, now can you see if you can talk to me through here?*_ Again, another odd request. _*Say something specific though, something only we'd know; that way I'll know it's you and not Coco or Velvet playing tricks.*_ She nodded, realising after she had that the boy couldn't see it. The woman focussed hard on Fox, imagining him right by her side as she thought of a question that she wanted to ask him. If this worked, she might get an answer now. Otherwise, it can wait until tomorrow.

~ _Do you really love my smirks?_ ~ There was a pause as Fox waited there. His face lit up as the message reached him moments later and he responded.

~ _Of course I do Ni. I love them a lot._ ~ The answer, as well as the fact that they could speak to each other over longer distances, made the ice cream girl beam. _*I needed to test that just in case we needed to say something and we weren't near one another. I'm glad that worked, I really am. Otherwise, I'll do my best to keep it as simple 'Yes/No' questions for you. Starting with this: you still up for tomorrow?*_ Eyes of Heterochromia pink and brown looked over at the wirework mannequin. There it was, measured to the exact proportions she had measured for Coco so that when she was making her little present for her she didn't need the Huntress-in-Training to be there for her. That was her aim for the day, to finish that. Everything afterwards was a bonus. She turned back and nodded, all whilst speaking her answer in her head. _*Great, I've got a plan for it. I'll be there early.*_ In a moment of dread, Neo shook her head and almost cried the 'No' at him. _*Why not?*_

~ _I'll come to you. Please. It'll be easier.~_

_*If that's what you want. I'll wait here for you. Come round as early as you can after 8:30, I still want to give the girls their beauty sleep and Yatsuhashi will be back either really late tonight or really early tomorrow. Alright?*_

~ _Yeah okay._ ~

_*Good. I'll see you tomorrow bright and early then? Later Ni.*_

~ _Bye. Fox, I-_ ~ But the call had ended before the second word even reached him. Once the call had ended, Neo stared at the device in her hands for what seemed like a lifetime. She stared, hoping somehow his face would pop back on the screen just so she could finish the sentence she needed to say to him.

_Fox, I love you._


	15. Let's Start This One Right (And Hopefully End It The Right Way Too)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A combination of Chapters 18 & 19 from the original FFnet upload.

_Nervous? Why are you nervous? You did this two days ago, there is_ _ **nothing**_ _to be nervous about._ Fox paced slowly up and down the dorm room. Coco was up early, having done nothing yesterday her body naturally decided to kick her up early as punishment, Velvet lay asleep next to her. She had a cup of coffee, so she was somewhat fine about it. She sat on her bed watching her teammate pace, sipping away when she felt the caffeine wearing off.

"You know, I'm sure if we asked, they would change the carpet in our room so that there was a pattern there. You don't have to tread one in yourself."

"Coco, I'm nervous." Fox wasn't one to admit his feelings without coaxing. Coco got up to talk with him, only for her legs to ache something fierce the second she did. She both loved and hated how Velvet could be so right a lot of the time. Instead of getting up to see him, Coco patted the bed beside her and ushered Fox to sit down with her.

"What're you thinking about?"

"Us..." Coco _could_ make a joke regarding herself and Fox saying something along the lines of 'I'm flattered, but I have a girlfriend', but she was too tired to do so and she knew that wouldn't help the situation. If anything, I'd make it worse.

"You going to give me any more to work on than that?"

"It's just... I'm worried that I'll do something wrong. I'm worried I might say something wrong, or not say anything and that makes things worse so I try and correct myself and dig a bigger hole than I would have been in if I'd stayed quiet."

"And I'm worried that you snuck out and swapped brains with Ruby with how fast you're talking. Just slow down Fox." He did as he was told. "Why are you worried?"

"I'm just... I don't want to do or say something wrong."

"What do you think you ought to say?"

"Something, but I can't think of what to say."

"Good." He shot his team leader a puzzled look. "Of all the things that you could do to make things go wrong on a date, overthinking is top dog. Second's bringing your mother along, but that's beside the point."

"First hand experience with that one?"

The light-heartedness in Coco's tone was gone as she strictly told him, "Do not _ever_ joke about that, Fox."

The blind brawler apologised, "Your Mum is a touchy subject, I forgot."

"Anyway, if you're over thinking and planning everything you're supposed to say or do, you're not enjoying the moment. Take it from me, Coco nowadays would cringe at what the Coco from her first, second, right up to fourth date with Velvet was like. I did then what you're doing now; I treated it like a mission. Planning everything, right down to my responses and conversation starters. But I was lucky, because this little bundle of adorable really liked me and was willing to be patient. I finally stopped and let the day take us where we wanted it to, and I fell into the deepest depths of adoration as a result. I saw Velvet relaxing just as I was, I said things that felt natural rather than forced, I did things even I wasn't expecting to do, all because it's what my body did in the moment.

"Neo may be the same as Velvet in this regard, she may be patient and willing to wait for you to stop fart-arsing around and live the date, or she may decide 'Fuck it, not worth my time' and disappear forever. I know it'd probably be better if you experienced that cringe-worthy stuff yourself, but as your friend who is really happy that you two are doing this, I decided to intervene and save you from yourself." The boy nodded in agreement to everything Coco said. Normally out of missions that wasn't the best thing to do. Now, she was being genuine and sincere and for that he'd take her words to heart. He went for a hug but was interrupted by a gentle knock on the door.

"Well..." he said, bracing himself and standing to go to the door but was caught by Coco's hand grabbing his wrist.

"Listen, if you do what's right as it happens, good _will_ come of it if you just give it time."

"Okay. Thanks for that Yatsu."

"You're we- hey! I'm trying to be nice here."

"I know, I'm pulling your leg." With that, he opened the door. Stood there was Neo. Not Bubblegum, nor Cherry: Neo. "Hey Ni."

~ _Morning Fox. Sleep well?~_

"Not really. First date, little nervous. But I've had a pep talk with Coco."

~ _I_ _see_.~ {" _Good morning Coco._ "}

"Morning Neo." She was too tired to Sign. "Nice to see _you_ again, as opposed to that amazing costume."

"{ _Yeah._ "} ~ _Shall we?_ ~

"We shall. Later Coco; thanks for the talk."

"Anytime Fox." The boy ran back to his bed and grabbed his Scroll and his rucksack, and then headed off into Vale with Neo, their collective First Date officially beginning.

"...you lowballed..." came a groggy voice from the bed.

"Hmm?"

"I recall it being date nu..." a heavy yawn broke her speech, "date number nine where you finally got your act together, not four."

"Well, thank you for keeping quiet about it until _after_ he'd gone," she said with a small smile to her girlfriend.

"Sure..." she rested her head again. "Now sleep."

"Can't. Morning coffee's in my system."

"Then let _me_ sleep."

"That, I can do."

* * *

~ _So, where are we heading exactly?_ ~

"If I told you, that'd ruin the surprise wouldn't it?" The couple walked through the peaceful morning streets of Vale. Many people were already on their way into work, so it'd be about ten minutes before the first big rush of people of the day kicked in. However, Fox knew that the place he was taking Neo was already open so they could avoid the rush. "All I will say is that if it doesn't have what I wanted, it _may_ ruin the plan I had for today."

~ _No back-up plan?~_

"Maybe; but I'd much rather go with Plan A."

~ _Fair enough.~_ They continued down a few more streets, walking close but not holding each other. Merely having the other close was enough for them, the occasional brush of the other's hand on the back of their own all the contact they needed. Fox led Neo round one last familiar corner before approaching the door of their destination. He opened it and held it for her, a gesture she appreciated. As they entered the store, the bell on the door behind them rang once again as a voice called from out back.

"Just a minute!" Neo remembered that Roman was supposed to come here once. He didn't in the end, so Mercury and Emerald came instead. It didn't end well. A figure came through the doors behind the counter carrying a large pile of books.

"Welcome to 'Tukson's Book Trade', home to every book under the sun. How may I help you?" The Faunus, whilst not Tukson himself, bore a striking resemblance to the man with his dark hair, hazel eyes and pale complexion. One big difference was that he was much less intimidating that the previous owner in size, that and he work more muted green as opposed to the burgundy of Tukson. That still didn't stop them from both being strong enough to carry such large piles of books, or offering the same level of customer service the store was known for. "Oh, hello again sir. Nice to see you back. May I ask what it is you're after today?"

"Yes, I was wondering if you had the book I requested come in yet."

"It certainly has sir. One moment please, I'll grab it for you." The man left through the doors once again, leaving the couple alone.

~ _So, Tukson's. That's the big surprise?~_

"It's part of the surprise. Seeing as what I wanted is in, it means the rest of the day is going to go fine, weather permitting."

~ _Oh, so the rest is outdoors, is it?~_

"It is. But I'm not saying any more."

~ _Aw, you're no fun.~_

"Yes I am, you're just annoyed you're not getting what you want right away."

~ _But you fail to realise Fox; I_ _ **always**_ _get what I want eventually._ ~

"Do you now?" he teased.

~ _Yes, I do._ ~ She turned to square off against him, the height difference making the conflict look more like a child arguing to a parent than anything else. ' _So tell me. Now._ '

"Ooh, those are fighting words Ni. You sure you want to do this?"

~ _Why, you scared you might be bested by a girl, Fox?_ ~

"Nope," before she had a real chance to react, the boy had dashed behind her and got her in a hold across the chest and shoulders that kept her firmly in place. "I'm just worried you'll embarrass yourself in front of all these books." Neo struggled against his hold, but it was all fruitless. In all honesty, she didn't mind being held like this too much, but she couldn't show she'd just given up - he'd hold that against her. Before she had a chance to continue her struggle, the owner came out with a book in hand.

"Here you are sir. New in late last night, only saw it this morning." Fox dropped the hold so that it was more of a hug from behind. Neo hugged his arms, happy that he was doing so.

"Thanks, how much?"

"I'm under strict orders from Tukson himself sir. He told me to refuse payment from a young girl under the name Blake Belladonna, and a blind, copper haired boy named Fox Alistair. Enjoy your book sir, and thank you for visiting Tukson's." The couple smiled at the shopkeeper, then left with his new book in one hand and Neo holding his other one.

~ _Free books. You must go there fairly often to get that discount._ ~

"Not as much as Blake does. She's been in there more times than I have, and I've been at Beacon an entire year longer than her. No, Tukson knew that finding books in braille was a daunting task so he promised he'd do his best to cater for my needs and he'd done so all this time. It seems even though he's on holiday that gesture of goodwill is continuing, though I didn't realise that he'd been giving them to me." Neo knew that he wasn't actually on holiday, rather he was dead. Fox didn't need to know that.

~ _Yeah. So where're we going with your new book?~_

" _My_ new book? No Neo, it's _our_ new book. I take it you enjoyed my story?" She thought back to the book she'd blitzed through about five days ago. Whilst she had done it out of spite for Fox choosing an inanimate object over her (something she still hasn't 100% forgiven yet), she did find herself enjoying the words on the page.

' _I did actually. But what's it matter to you?_ '

"Well I asked for a very specific book. I asked for Year 7 of that series, the final book. And seeing as how we have a whole day to kill and the weather is holding for the moment, I thought you'd like to sit down with me and we read the story together. I read one chapter while you listen, then you read the next while I listen and so on and so forth." Neo's eyes widened in joy and she hugged the boy, a corner of the book accidently making its way under one of her ribs and stinging a little but not too much.

' _That's so sweet Fox, I'd love to do that with you._ ' She shot him a smile and he returned it.

"Shall we?"

* * *

The Emerald Forest was teeming with Creatures of Grimm. You'd get your bog standard Beowolf and Ursa, along with a few Death Stalkers here and there, and the odd nest of Nevermore that always seemed to come back to the same place every season. Fox knew this. Fox also knew that Grimm wouldn't bother you if you posed absolutely no threat to them in their own territory; unless you went intruding on their nest or colony, then you'd have no chance.

But here was a safe zone.

The vast majority of Grimm activity was a long distance away from here, and even so this area was pretty secluded. The tan skinned student had come prepared; out of his rucksack he'd pulled a picnic blanket and a hamper filled with various little snacks for them. He also brought a small cushion so that it wasn't too uncomfortable sitting down for ages in one spot.

"So, do you want to read first, or would you like me to go first?"

~ _I mean normally I hate it when a guy does his thing before me, but I think I'll make an exception this time._ ~ She winked at the boy as he got the book out of the rucksack as well, which he just smirked at. He seemed to be getting much more comfortable about that topic with her, as that very blatant innuendo got no reaction at all from him. She sat between Fox's legs, the back of her head resting on his abs. Fox held the book on her chest, then opened it to the first page and began feeling the braille and reading it to her in his head; it made sense as they could just go through it as they both normally would with the added benefit of the other person hearing their thoughts as well.

~' _Chapter 1: The Dark Lord Ascending._

_The two men appeared out of nowhere, a few yards apart in the narrow, moonlit lane. For a second they stood quite still, wands directed at each other's chests; then, recognizing each other, they stowed their wands beneath their cloaks and started walking briskly in the same direction._

_"News?" asked the taller of the two._

_"The best," replied Severus Snape.' Bastard..._ ~ he cursed, breaking the flow of the chapter not thirty seconds into it.

~ _I hate him too Fox, don't worry. We can kill him in our minds later._ ~ She assured him with a glance up towards his face. He looked down at her and couldn't help but smile, her Aura making her shine like a pink, cream and brown sun. That deceivingly innocent face could turn on a dime and kill you without hesitation, but he loved the look she made when she was genuinely smiling at him. He didn't care about the fact she could probably kill him if he did her wrong, he only cared right now that she was safe and happy with him, just as he felt with her.

~ _Sure, sure._ _'The lane was bordered on the left by wild, low-growing brambles, on the right by a high, neatly manicured hedge. The men's long cloaks flapped around their ankles as they marched..._ '~

The pair of them sat there for ages in each other's company. When every chapter ended, the other would take over reading. Sometimes they'd offer opinions on what had happened; other times they'd just continue the story on, but what was consistent was the fact they would hold on to one another. Sometimes, a little tighter when something shocked them, or when something bad happened that they felt sad about. Their contact would break only for respites to go and grab food from the rucksack. As the day drew to a close, Fox was taking his turn at reading a chapter. It'd reached a point where his inner voice became a natural storyteller; rising and falling with the words like a wave. But after Ron had said to Harry that ' _"All is fair in love and war, and this is a bit of both"_ ', he finished sentence to look down and see what reaction that brought, and that's when he realised that the breathing of Neo had grown a little less frequent but much more regular. She had fallen asleep in his embrace. Fox noted the page number and closed the book, then stared at the sleeping woman in his lap.

"Wow..." he mouthed to himself, fearing that if he thought anything she might hear it and comment later; whilst he didn't particularly mind that he would much rather avoid the humiliation. She was so peaceful when she slept, her chest gently rising and falling almost mesmerised Fox into a trance. He felt so lucky that Neo was his... or was she? "Shit," he mouthed "I didn't ask again. Tomorrow. First, time to get you home." He felt a yawn creeping up on him, so he let it as he gently shifted Neo so that he could pack everything up, resting her on the grass when he needed to get the blanket.

Once everything was packed up in his rucksack, Fox hit a dilemma. Should he wake her up and return with her being a bit groggy, but knowing that at least he'd be there to make sure she was safe? Or does he wait until she's awake - however long that may be - and head back then when _he_ may be sleepy? Neither seemed particularly favourable to him. Of the two options of 'Wake' and 'Wait', Fox chose 'Walk' - an unforeseen third option he'd decided was effectively the best of both. He lifted Neo up so that she was in the sitting position, then put the rucksack on her back. Once it was secured there, he proceeded to lift her onto his own back and carry her piggyback. She was so light, but that's what happens when you're one and a third foot smaller than the person carrying you, who also happens to be a Huntsman-in-Training and therefore is physically quite strong as is, excluding his mastery of his own Aura.

Fox only remembered thinking about where he was going to drop Neo off when the girl in question instinctively held him tighter as strong and cold gust of wind blew around them. Carrying Neo didn't feel taxing in any way at all, it almost felt natural. Rather than wake her, he again talked to her in their heads.

~ _Ni, it's Fox. Can I ask you something?_ ~

~ _...Mm hmm..._ ~

~ _Where're you staying? What street?_ ~

~ _...Cloak Inn... seventeen..._ ~ Her inner voice was so airy when she was caught in her dream that Fox couldn't help but smile at how cute it sounded. Now he had a destination to go to.

When he arrived at the Inn, he explained that she was tired and that he'd just be making sure she was in her room and safe, a statement that got him a dirty look from the Innkeeper along with him muttering something to along the lines of "here long enough" and "her room" - he couldn't make out the rest. Fox took her up to the room she'd mumbled and used her key she was given to open the door. The sight that came next shocked Fox.

He always made a habit of bursting his Aura out as he entered a room, that way he could get a decent layout of the size and general placement of everything. Normally, it'd take about two bursts to completely get a sense of the room, and it could be knocked down to one if he used his semblance as well. Today, was not the case. In a single burst, Fox saw his Aura radiate out, then hit the walls of the room. It was small, about five metres across, six and a half metres deep with an even smaller room off to one side that was for the fridge and sink. Fox braced when he saw a human figure in one corner, but relaxed somewhat when he didn't feel the Aura of a person or the darkness of Grimm, and he also realised that it was Neo's wirework mannequin for Coco. How was this woman so damn talented? Across the floor were various large bits of fabric and material that Fox remembered picking up a couple of days prior. The bed was a single bed pushed right up into the top corner of the room with what seemed like a very basic mattress and duvet.

Fox's eyes darted around the room, then glanced at the blissfully unaware woman currently sleeping on his back. This was where she was sleeping, how she was living. He was in shock, how could she do this to herself? Granted, she may not have had any other option, Fox understood that. But going back to what the Innkeeper said Fox was pretty sure he pieced together his annoyed mumbling. This had to have been where Neo was staying ever since she and the criminals she was associated with had parted companies - for the better, in his eyes - some two months ago. No wonder she didn't want Fox coming round to her, she didn't want him seeing how she'd lived.

He lay her down on the uncomfortable looking mattress and quickly looked around the 'room' for things. As he had a look through the fridge-freezer, he gave Velvet a quick call.

_*Fox, that you?*_

"Yeah, it's me Velvet. Listen, where are you guys at the moment?"

_*Oh, Coco and are I in the dorm. Yatsu still hasn't come back, he was supposed to have returned earlier. Guess he wanted to stay with family a bit longer. Why'd you ask?*_

"Because I'm going to need to ask you and Coco to do a little bit of rearranging. I'm at Neo's place right now; she's been staying at The Cloak Inn for the past two months."

_*The Cloak Inn?! That's not exactly the best place in Vale she could have chosen.*_

"I can see that, but I assume it was a budget thing. So yeah, I'm here and I don't want her to be staying here tonight. She's asleep at the moment, she kinda crashed about an hour ago back in the Emerald Forest and I think that she'll be out for the rest of the day now. Can you rearrange the room a bit so that there'd be room for me to sleep in a sleeping bag on the floor?" There was a bit of a pause between Fox finishing his sentence and Velvet restarting. He was taking a breath in in preparation to speak again when the Faunus spoke through the line.

_*Fox... why don't you just share a bed instead?*_

"No Velvet!" He replied almost in a sharp whisper. "I am not doing that. She can have my bed, I'll sleep on the floor."

 _*Then you might as well sleep at The Cloak,*_ she countered. _*You're putting yourself in basically the same situation that she's in right now.*_

"I am not going to sleep in-" Velvet wasn't giving him any chance to refuse or counter, there was only going to be one outcome.

_*Fox listen. You like Neo right?*_

"Um, yeah."

_*Do you like-like Neo?*_

"Yeah...?"

_*How much?*_

"I guess that I..." he sighed, knowing the Faunus would pry the answer out of him one way or another. "A lot. In these last couple of days, I might have even considered using the other word as well."

 _*And Neo feels the same.*_ Fox accidentally misinterpreted what his teammate said.

"I'm not sure if she does to the same degree as I do."

_*What? No, Fox, that wasn't a question. I'm telling you, Neo feels the same way. She's told me and Coco a few times.*_

"Okay."

 _*And let me tell you, she will appreciate it. Do you recall that night when Coco got really drunk and staggered her way into my bed? That was one of the best night's sleep I had ever had. And waking up in the morning with Coco sleeping right beside me was so fantastic that I would have given anything to make it happen again. That's why I was willing to wait for Coco to stop messing up with her dates, because when she eventually got it right, I knew that those nights where we were in each other's arms would be a prize. You walked with Neo from the Emerald Forest, what's the harm in walking back to Beacon? She will appreciate it.*_ Fox glanced back at Neo, who was actually squirming a little bit at the uncomfortable mattress underneath her. He had hoped it looked worse than it felt, turns out it'd probably be the inverse.

"Okay. For her, I'll do it."

_*That's great Fox! I'll tell Coco to lay off you two when you get back tonight.*_

"Thanks Velvet. I'll be there within the hour." He pulled something out of the freezer, then gave a small smirk to himself. "But if you wouldn't mind, could you maybe do a little bit of shifting in the freezer. I've got a plan."

* * *

One by one Neo's senses stirred.

First, her sense of touch. She felt warm and relaxed. The mattress felt so much nicer than it ever had before; which was a miracle, considering the mattresses were probably worse than the floor, but she never wanted to risk sleeping on The Cloak Inn floor. She must have been really tired to be appreciating the mattress.

Next was her hearing. She heard breathing that was not her own, one really close to her. In the time she had spent here, never had she realised how paper thin the walls seemed to be in this place. Thank Oum she never brought Fox here, they'd never have any privacy if they wanted to, the mattress wouldn't help either. Heck, _it'd_ probably moan more than either of them - which wasn't a big ask on her part when she thought about it.

Third, smell. Her room smelt different this morning, it smelt... cosy? How can something smell cosy? But here she was, in a cosy smelling room. The aroma was much more pleasant than it had been before; maybe the idiotic Innkeeper had finally done some work in the building for once and given each room a nicer, more appealing smell.

Her fourth and final sense she needed came; her sight. The roof of the room was so much taller than usual. Maybe she was on the floor? No, too comfy for the floor. Tired mind playing tricks on her, that was it. She turned to her left to look at the time - 3:28am - only to also see two more beds. She never remembered asking for a communal bedroom. She swapped round to see what was on her right flank, and that was when everything pieced together. The mattress was so nice because it wasn't the mattress she normally slept on. The breathing was because there were multiple people in the room. That cosy smell was the faint smell of coffee. And the increased height of the room was actually because this was a Beacon Academy dorm room. The catalyst for her conclusion? The fact that Fox Alistair was sleeping right next to her in the same bed.

Her eyes glowed with a pleasantness that she seldom felt. There was only one other time she felt like this and that was the morning after her night with the Arctic Fox Faunus, only the feeling here was amplified tenfold. Neo silently shuffled across and draped an arm around the sleeping student next to her, the action causing her heart to flutter a bit. A sleepy moan of content from him caused that flutter to turn into a full on skipped beat. Neo fought past the irregularity of her heart and leaned in to Fox's body, letting the warming sensation of being cuddled up to him in his sleep take over her body and get her to drift back to sleep once again.

* * *

**{END OF ACT 2}**


	16. That's How I Want To Wake Up in The Morning From Now On

**KEY:**

"Speech"  
_Thought_  
{" _Sign Language_ "}  
_~Thought Talking~_  
**Scroll message**  
_*Scroll call*_

* * *

Getting up in the morning was usually a thing he didn't really like doing. Who did? You're leaving your bed - which by this point is really, _really_ comfy - to go and spend the day doing other things away from it. And today, well... Velvet may have been right. Fox woke with the normal glow of the sunlight shining in his broken vision, but also a rich, pulsating glow beside him of Neo's Aura. He looked at her and saw her face shining in the darkness that was his norm, a grin plastered to her face like a mask. Fox saw her and couldn't stop his heart from beating faster and a blush crawling up his neck, staining his cheeks with a rosy hue.

"Wow..." he mouthed; the second time Neo had made him do that in as many days. He followed his gut and did what he thought was right in the moment. The tan skinned boy leaned over and pressed his scarred lips on the forehead of Neo with a smile; her skin was so smooth, but he'd never realised that until now. The couple of times they had kissed he'd noted the fact, but never before had he truly appreciated it. Now there were no obstructions to stop them from feeling what they truly feel, and Fox couldn't be happier.

"Mornin', lover boy," Coco cooed from the dresser on the far side of the room, fully clothed for the day and tapping an invisible watch on her wrist. Fox lifted himself up and glanced at the clock on his bedside table. 9:46am, probably the latest he had ever slept in in his entire life. "Long night of passionate love-making make you tired?"

"Didn't Velvet tell you to lay off?" Fox shot back, ignoring the obvious quip at Coco for her and Velvet's day long love-making session not too long ago.

"Yeah, but she said, and I quote, 'Let Fox and Neo have some time in peace tonight, they deserve it.' So I did. Now is not 'tonight' anymore, is it? And that means I have an evening's worth of catching up to do" Fox was so fixated on Coco now that he failed to notice Neo's eyes shoot open effortlessly; she had been up for some time now but pretended to be asleep as Fox stirred to see is reactions.

"Go ahead, do your worst. I'm happy to lay here with Neo until she wakes up, and nothing you can say will hurt that."

"Really? Nothing at all?"

"Nope, nothing at all."

"Dust damn it... looks like I owe you some Lien then, Neo." Fox's head turned to see what he thought would be Neo sleeping in the bed, but instead it was her wide awake and grinning like a mad-woman as she sat up, busted.

~ _You went "wow" when you saw me.~_

"How long have you been awake?..."

~ _Hours._ ~ Fox let out a mildly-panicked, high-pitched cry that honestly sounded akin to a Velociraptor more than anything else which both the girls in the room found hilarious in their own ways.

"Yeah, sure, go ahead. Laugh at my misfortunes Coco."

"If you insist," she chuckled, "but I've got to meet Velv on the Sparring Field, she doesn't want me getting rusty on her."

"Yes, fine just please go."

"Of course. Don't do anything I wouldn't do."

"Coco, we've both walked in on the aftermath of your sex-capade, we both know there's not a lot you wouldn't do. That statement doesn't hold much weight anymore." The gunner stepped back slightly at her teammate's remark.

"You did?"

"Yup."

"Oh, fuck me."

~ _Okay then._ ~ Fox shot Neo a look of sheer bewilderment at her comment. Continuing as if that hadn't happened, which for her it hadn't, Coco finished.

"Anyway, I'll see you in a bit guys." Then she was gone, the door clicking behind her and leaving the pair still in bed alone in the room.

"What the hell?!" Fox cried after he was certain Coco was far enough down the hallway to not hear him yell.

~ _What? She's hot, and she offered._ ~

"First, no she didn't. Second, she has a girlfriend!"

~ _But come on Fox; Coco Adel. Are you telling me that, if she wasn't already in a relationship and she offered that opportunity up, you'd say "No"?_ ~

"Well no I wouldn't pass it, but that's-"

~ _Ha! See, I win. Next time she says that I'm not answering in my head._ ~

"Neo what about us?" The ice cream girl froze at that remark. What _about_ them? She turned to face the boy who she was sharing the bed with face on.

~ _We've never really said, have we? It's just kind of been... dates.~_

"Exactly; if you're doing this to get with Coco and then disappear then you can just leave now."

~ _No, it's not that at all. I just..._ ~ she looked away from him, almost embarrassed to tell him her story. But she knew she could trust Fox, and maybe that will help him trust her more. ~ _I've never really told anyone this, mostly because I couldn't. I haven't had the chance to stay in one place for long. The line of work I chose comes at a cost. A killer for hire means that at times I have to take a hit for the person paying so that they stay in the clear to hire my services again. I have a lot of people who want to catch me, even more who want me dead. The fact that I was known to get jobs done quick meant I was sought after by people across all four Kingdoms and the towns and villages in between._

~ _A_ _nd as such, I don't settle down. I can't. I put myself at risk every day I stayed in one place - after a week I would move on regardless, though I've never really failed anyone who employs me so that week was all I needed. I couldn't settle down, so I put myself out there. Whilst I was at work I'd look for someone. I'd get close. I'd kiss them. If that went well, I went home with them and we'd go a few rounds under the covers. I'd disappear from their lives. Rinse, repeat._

 _'~hen we died Fox; and I felt like my life had been a game and someone hit the reset. I found out soon after that whilst the hospitals wrote us both off as dead first, they signed paperwork to nullify that statement. I stole mine and destroyed it. For all intents and purposes, I am officially dead. Anyone who had access to official records - a few of my enemies do - would see that I was dead and call off the search for me. I went back to the people I thought I could call friends, but they had abandoned me at the first chance they got. They believed me dead and it was good, so I ran away from them and spent the-_ ~ Neo second guessed herself, wondering whether Fox should know. Well, she'd said this much. ~ _I spent the night with Maggie, the Faunus from the café we went to._ ~ Fox looked at her and nodded, clearly he felt something had happened between the women in the past, but chose not to speak up on it.

~ _Normally with me it's just sex, but I felt something with her, same sort of thing I'm feeling with you. I felt a connection, a deep emotional connection._ ~ She took the blind boy's hands as tears started welling in her eyes, all the emotion built up from years of emotionlessly killing target after target coming back in one big fist of feelings. ~ _It's what I've wanted for so long. With Coco, what we "have" is what I've always done; all I'm missing with her is the last stage. With you, I want to take things slow, not cram everything done into a loveless night of passion. We've got something different. I want to be with you because I-_ ~ How can words jam in your throat when you can't even speak? This was ridiculous, it wasn't like the words were foreign to her, she'd said them before. But Fox took the first step and caught Neo in a powerful but loving embrace.

"You didn't have to say all of that Neo. Let your tears flow, you'll want to hear this." She took his advice and let the waterfall begin, though she felt like life really didn't want her to say those three words again. It was weird, she sobbed through her shoulders and her eyes overflowed with tears, but with no sound she thought it felt... off. Like there was something missing. But she realised that something _always_ feels off when you don't have a voice. Once the tears had subsided, Fox finally released the embrace and lay his hands on Neo's arms, his rough fingers painting patterns on the skin of her forearms. "Everything you'd said took a lot of courage to say, and I'm thankful that you wanted to share it with me; clearly you trust me enough to do so."

~ _It's nothing, really-_ ~

"No, but it is. 'I've never really told anyone this'. The trust that you put in me is amazing and I honestly feel so happy to know that you feel like we're at that level of understanding that we can do that. Listen, being blind is a bitch; just as I imagine being mute must be. But being mute, you can still experience everything around you, you just can't vocalise your thoughts. I physically can't experience it, and that makes me so sad." He reached on hand up to touch the cheek of the woman opposite him. "I'll never see exactly how beautiful I think you are. I see your Aura and how it moulds to your shape, but never _you_. And I want to." The copper haired boy took a long and purposeful breath through the nose; he'd been meaning to say this and now it felt right in the moment. "Because I want to love how you look just as I love your Aura and what you do. I love you Neo, and I want to love _all_ of you." There was stillness in Team CFVY's dorm room. Neo sat there with her mouth agape. Worry crossed Fox's face, then panic. "What? Did I say it too soon? Oh shit, I said it too soon! Oh Dust, I fucked it up! I know it's not been too long, I'm so sor-"

~ _Fox!_ ~ He was tackled to the bed by Neo in a big hug. Why was he always getting tackled to the floor by women? Not that he was complaining much. ~ _Oh Fox, thank you! I love you too. I love you so much and I've been meaning to say that for ages, but every time something got in the way. You saying it first was fantastic, it meant I could follow. I love you._ ~ She cupped her hands behind his head as his hands slowly made their way to hug her middle. ~ _And don't worry about not seeing me. What you do more than makes up for your lack of sight.~_ Neo allowed the boy to sit up, their arms remaining exactly where they were. She looked into his milky white eyes whereas he stared at where her Aura indicated her eyes should be. They inched their way closer, feeling that the other wanted the same thing as them. An intimacy where the action could be replicated by anyone, but the feeling behind it could not.

They were but inches away from one another, feeling the heavier breaths of their partner's anticipation on each other's lips when Fox's Scroll buzzed and broke their mood.

"Son of a..." Fox took the still-vibrating device in his hand and recognised his teammate's unique ringtone sounding. He reluctantly answered and shot a playful comment at him, whilst the intention behind the word was still there. "Someone better be dying Yatsu, I was in the middle of something."

"Fox, there's no time to explain!" The tank sounded out of breath and spoke with a hushed whisper. Yatsuhashi was never like that.

"Yatsu?" Fox sat up, Neo shifting off him to let him do so, concern on her face too. "What's going on?"

"My village has been attacked. A Nuckelavee. This is the only respite I've had where there's been some signal to send this message. We need the villagers out of here and this thing gone. Get the rest of you here now! Bring trained Huntsmen with you if you can, this thing is tough. Hurry!" The Scroll cut dead. Fox looked at Neo.

"Neo, your weapon's still in my locker, right?" She was still trying to process the information, so she simply nodded. "I need to get changed, head to the Sparring Field and tell Coco and Velvet. Meet at the landing pads closest to the Field, I'll send my locker there to get our weapons." She nodded again. Fox leaned across and placed a quick kiss on her forehead. "Go, I'll be there shortly. We've got no time to lose!" One final nod and Neo shattered into pieces, leaving Fox in his dorm room by himself.

~ _Stupid cock-blocking Damsel-in-Distress,_ ~ he thought, grinning at the thought of the 7 foot tall Yatsuhashi in a dress. The fact his potential first proper kiss was cut off before it happened was a little irritating, but he couldn't stay mad if they were going to fight a Nuckelavee; they were near-mythical in status, undocumented in terms of everything except name. All Fox knew was that it was unimaginably dangerous - stories tell of no one ever walking away from one alive - and it'd need the team's full attention to take it down. Four minutes after the call, Fox was washed. Six minutes after the call, he was running out of the door in his combat gear with three in ear radios in hand, one already in his ear, the landing pads on the Sparring Field side of the school his destination. "Hang in there Yatsu. We're coming."


	17. An Urgent Need of Some Backup

The attack was strong enough to knock Coco back. She almost lost her balance, but regained it as she skidded backwards. Letting her natural momentum stop her moving completely, she pushed off the floor and sprung back towards her opponent. With a high swing of her boots, she aimed to catch them off guard, but they were anticipating that. For them, that was predictable; they'd move backwards to get away from it so she'd swing again, they'd retreat again until they were in a corner and the match would be won. As predicted, the Faunus jumped back to avoid the first and second kick aimed at her head. The third time it happened, Coco was caught unawares. Rather than jump back like she usually did, Velvet ducked under the kick and eased forwards closing the gap between them, attacking the one leg that was supporting all of Coco's weight at the moment. In an instant the leg was up in the air, then her body was thrown down to the ground hard, her Aura spiking up to cushion the impact, but it still didn't lessen the fact that it hurt like hell.

The Faunus kneeled on her sparring partner's chest and let out a satisfied but focussed "Yield"; she knew that if she lowered her defences, the opponent could still attack. Keep your guard up until the battle is over, even if it seems you have won beforehand. Coco lowered her sunglasses as she stared into the eyes of Velvet, conceding to the girl.

"I yield."

When CFVY were first together on initiation, Velvet was a strong fighter, but was still weaker than her three teammates comparatively. Her trump cards over them were her agility, her semblance and smaller stature making her that little bit harder to hit. But as time went on, each of those grew less and less; Fox's agility specifically soared once he'd let go of his fears of being prejudiced against for being blind, and his speed soared too. Her semblance kept the field interesting, but in sparring matches against her own team they would have most likely been with her when she took photos of people's weapons and stored their likeness in her camera, so they'd know whose weapons she could be mimicking and therefore would have a strategy to deal with them. Especially their own weapons. So when everyone else's strengths grew and their weaknesses improved to lessen them, her strengths dwindled and her weaknesses grew ever more present, leaving her in her own eyes the weak link of Team CFVY.

So she dedicated herself to eliminating that problem for herself. She often got up early to go on runs to further improve her already heightened stamina (though her bedroom antics with Coco helped with that too). On top of that, she'd spend lots of time in the Gym focussing on close ranged physical attacks like punches and kicks, improving the strength and speed she put behind them; it stopped her from relying solely on an opportunity to use her weapon and made her more viable in close range. At times, Velvet had even _asked_ to be retained in detention by Goodwitch so that she could do her best to work on her own predictability and anticipating the opponent better - a risky move in anyone's books, even Ozpin's. But if this match was anything to go by, everything she did was paying off in spades and she was becoming one of the more versatile members of the team.

"You're doing great Velv, I've never seen you do that before," she groaned, the pain really setting in as she hauled herself off the grass.

"Well if you know _everything_ I could do, sparring matches become predictable and one-sided - I try as hard as I can, yet you still beat my ass."

"You don't moan about me beating your ass normally," she teased.

"I'm trying to have a serious conversation here Coco."

"You're just getting defensive 'cause you know it's true." In one solid movement, Coco jumped forward again hoping her distraction techniques would help to catch her partner off guard and let her get the first hit in or just outright end this fight in one. Sadly for the fashionista, Velvet was always the quicker on her feet of the two as she dodged to one side and let her attacker roll out of her attempted surprise assault. "Well, I see that didn't wo-" Coco's hands flew to her head in a panic as she felt her own hair. Dark brown eyes stared at the Faunus, who strutted away from her, twirling a beret on her index finger. "How in the...? When?"

"I saw and heard that coming a mile off Coco. Maybe _you_ should stop my Professor Goodwitch's for some extra-curricular detentions." She finished twirling and placed the hat on her head, rabbit ears still protruding from in front of where it rested, and winked at her girlfriend. "Might help you be a little quieter in the future; not that _I_ mind." How could Coco stay mad at someone as amazingly attractive as that, especially when she was wearing her stuff and saying things like that to her. The two toned hair of the team leader blew in the breeze as she jogged over to the Faunus and took her headpiece back from her.

"Are you trying to make me drop everything and have my way with you right here on the field?"

"No..." she scoffed, the sarcasm oozing from the words she spoke. "Why on Remnant would I do that?" The girls wrapped their arms around one another; Velvet around Coco's neck, Coco around Velvet's waist.

"Because you are a naughty little bunny," she replied, booping the Faunus girl's nose and causing her to scrunch it up in an instinctive reaction.

"Maybe I wouldn't be, if I didn't have someone like you pushing impure thoughts into my innocent little mind."

"Pfft, you are the worst."

"And you love me for it."

"Yeah, I do." They drew each other closer as their eyes closed and their lips met. They didn't stay like that for long, as a stone was thrown towards them. Velvet felt it coming through the air and pushed her girlfriend away suddenly as she too backed away, the tiny bit of rock falling right past where their faces were a second before. "Alright, who has the balls to... Neo?" The woman was running at the two students, her chest rising and falling noticeably even from a great distance, she had been running from the dorm to get to them. The three of them met and Neo spoke as quickly as her hands could manage.

{" _Sorry about the stone. Yatsuhashi called Fox, his village is under attack by a Nuckelavee Grimm. He needs us now, we need to go!_ "}

"Woah hold on, a _Nuckelavee_ _?_ I thought they were just a Grimm from Urban Legends?"

"Apparently not Velvs; though that does give us a reason as to why Yatsu's been gone for longer than he said."

{" _It sounded urgent, so let's go! Fox said to meet at the landing pads._ "}

"Right, let's do this." Velvet and Neo nodded at the team leader, her natural instincts kicking in upon hearing the mission. They raced to the landing pads and saw a metal container falling from the sky landing near them. A few moments later, Fox came running up to it and grabbed his own and his girlfriend's weapons and hurried to catch up with them in an aircraft. They gave directions to the pilot and took off fast. As they travelled, they discussed their approach to the mission, among other things.

"I've heard stories of this thing back when I was a child Coco; they said that it kills everything and everyone who gazes upon its face - no one survives to tell the tale."

"If no one survives Fox, then where'd the stories come from?" The remark stumped the blind boy before he realised that she had a very solid point. "Though Fox does bring up something very important; there are no documented sightings of a Nuckelavee, only what comes from these Urban Legends and stories. Even then, what it can do is still clouded in mystery. As such, we have to take extreme precaution, even more so than when we face Grimm en mass; this thing could be even worse than that. The fact that Yatsuhashi has been there for days suggests that it's not something we can take lightly, and not something we can take down individually, so we're going to need to land far away from it and approach on foot. Hopefully in that time, we'll get a chance to survey the area and see what it's like. Neo, how far can you go when you shatter, or whatever you call it?"

{" _Generally, it's anywhere that's out of the line of sight of the person or thing attacking. At best when I control it correctly I'd say about 70 metres._ "}

"Good, I'm going to need you to go with Velvet. Velvet, other than myself you're the only one out of the rest of us who can do it, so do you mind going with Neo on the scout? We need to be as quick and quiet as possible, so you two ought to be perfect. You up?" The girls nodded at the leader. "Great. We need to know what we're dealing with in terms of size and scope of collateral damage. If that thing starts getting aggressive, I'm going to need you to get the hell out of dodge; I don't want to lose team members before we know what we're doing and going up against. Even now, I'm lucky that Yatsuhashi is still alive; I intend on keeping it that way. I've already had one teammate die on my watch this year, I'm _not_ having a second." She took a breath to compose herself, not realising she was feeling the pressure of this sudden mission before it even began. "Knowing him, he'll be staying with the masses and keeping them safe, which is good. Our first priority is making sure that they are out of harm's way. Then, and only then, should we try and engage the Nuckelavee. Avoid any contact with it for as long as humanly possible. Fox," she faced the boy as she spoke, "you can still sense Yatsu, right?"

"Of course. It may be a little weaker than usual, but I still can."

"Then your role is simple in concept; get to Yatsu. We need him helping as soon as we can, the more of us there are sooner rather than later, the greater our odds. Be careful though, the Grimm's an unknown. I want you to get Yatsuhashi with you and try to escort as many of the villagers out and away from the fight as you can."

"Understood."

"Great, then let's get ready to go; we'll be approaching the village soon. Even if this is split into two parts I want this mission done quickly. Evac definitely needs to be speedy, disposing of the Grimm takes as long as it takes. Velvs, I want you report back to me in person when you've got intel, then go and help with clearing the village. Neo, stay close to her. I don't doubt you're more than capable, hell I _know_ you are, but in this case I want to make sure I have everyone a call away at all times."

{" _I understand Coco,_ "} she signed in response, {" _I'll stay close._ "}

"Perfect." The fashionista moved through the ship towards the pilot and spoke as loud as she needed to make sure he heard. "Set us down on the South side, as close as you can get us. We need to approach on foot."

"Got it. Good luck on your mission!" The man lowered the craft to about a metre or so above the treeline, then opened the doors to let the two couples jump down to the ground. Velvet was the first to point out the pillar of smoke coming from the village.

"We need to get there fast," she observed in a panic. The mage tried to run there straight away, but was restrained by her girlfriend grabbing onto her arm.

"Hold on Velvet! We can't just rush into this thing, remember? And we absolutely need to remain calm. For all we know this Grimm could sense negativity much greater than any others we've seen or heard of." Sunglasses were lowered as she stared at the village in the distance, the smoke blowing in the wind enough to hide most of the still-standing tower near the centre. "My vantage point will be the tower. I should be able to see most of the village from up there, or at the very least get an idea of where that Grimm is and keep an eye on it. Neo and Velvet, for intel I want you to deliver from the roof next to it, don't bother climbing to the same one. If one roof falls, I don't want 75% of us out of commission in one fell swoop. Fox, get to Yatsu and get to him fast. He needs our help just as much as we'll need his." Their nods were all she needed. "Alright then, let's go!"


	18. Hai-no Hana

Fox shot left with Coco. Their tasks were to get _directly_ to a certain point, so Coco always suggested - and the team mostly agreed - that they should find an _indirect_ route into the village, then make their way to their objectives from there. It added a level of unpredictability; if there were people expecting them to come directly down the middle, throw them off by advancing from a flank. Throwing in the fact that this was a Grimm did mean there was the chance to go for the more direct route due to the creatures' limited and one track mind, but making that Grimm something of mythical stature like the Nuckelavee undid that previous train of thought.

The pair of them found a low wall of on the South-East side of the village and jumped in. They had to treat this mission as if they were up against Human/Faunus hostiles due to the team's uncertainty of the creature's capabilities. Once they were inside the wall and made their way to the end of the first building, Coco quickly gazed around the corner to see what was there. She saw no people, no mass of Grimm, but she saw plenty of destruction; Coco was in two minds whether to be thankful for that.

"Everything's clear Fox. Find Yatsuhashi as fast as you can. If you see other people, take note of where they are and go back afterwards - getting Yatsu will help us later on, we need to have his strength more than we need to play the hero."

"I get it Coco, don't worry. This isn't an official mission, you don't need to worry about the 'rules' so much. We'll all do what you say because you are our leader; it's your mission, you call all the shots." Playful Coco reared her head for but a brief moment as she replied to her teammate.

"Alright then... drop your pants." Fox gave Coco a frustrated look and sped off to fulfil his mission. Coco stuck close to the buildings as she edged herself closer to the large tower near the centre of the village.

"I heard that Coco," Velvet mentioned disapprovingly through the comms.

"I was just playing with him Velvs, it's nothing."

"... Neo asks if you want a minute to rephrase yourself." Recalling her previous statement and what could be inferred from it, the beret wearing girl pondered, then shrugged.

"Nah, tell her that I know that you know what I meant. Now focus you two."

Fox felt his partner's Aura radiating from what felt like a bunker on the North side of the village. Just his luck, but it meant that he could do a little bit of recon himself. Every street he passed was either filled with nothing but residue panic or the corpses of the former residents; thankfully not many of the latter, but still unfortunately more than zero. The feeling of a corpse to him and anyone else with a similar awareness of their surroundings was that the person was now missing something. The body where they were still occupied that space, but there was no Aura there and that was what unnerved Fox the most about corpses, the lack of once was. Having been "dead" himself, he could only imagine the bliss of true death would be as opposed to the seemingly unending limbo that he and Neo were in. They came out the other side better people, and now with each other, so... every cloud.

Irregular clopping brought the student to a grinding halt. His Aura was masked in an instant as he used one of Yatsu's many breathing techniques to calm himself down, a technique that consequently also affects a person's Aura as well. He remained where he was as the beast, clearly the creature of Grimm they would need to take down soon, plodded past him. Fox dared to look, but he did burst his Aura ever so slightly to get an idea of the thing. The thing was big, almost rivalling Ursa Majors in size. And it was unhinged. Even for Grimm, this was a rarity. Fox stayed calm and still, letting the clopping pass. But it didn't. It stopped right near him, as if it felt something. There was a faint whinny, implying that it was at least part equine. There was also a small crack of what sounded like bones. Fox shuddered at the sound, trying his best to not let his emotions show; his body didn't want to play ball though as the wave of dread hit his extremities hard as his fists clenched and sweat started forming on his forehead. The hooves (he assumed they were hooves) turned towards him and stopped. There was an eerie and uncomfortable silence as Fox stood there facing away from the beast, not knowing that it would attack until after the attack had begun. The same hooves started sounding fainter and fainter as the creature walked away from him, not sensing anything of note. Taking his chance, the boy flew across the street and the following one before collapsing to his knees as the dread caught up to him. His breath heavy, he tried contacting the rest of the team.

Fox only realised after he'd opened the channel that he was still too out of breath from panic to actually form coherent sentences, something both people on the comms noticed.

"Fox?"

"Fox, what's happening. Talk to me."

"Nuckelavee. East, North-East. It's a big Grimm, sounded like it was a Horse."

"Got it Fox."

"...Neo's asking after you Fox."

"Tell her I'm alright, it's just a bit of worry from being a few metres away from a Grimm that apparently no one has ever fought and survived."

"You're being sarcastic, aren't you?"

"I'm worried, and if my worry is coming across as sarcasm then yes, I am."

"Zip it you two, focus on the mission." Coco was to the point. "I'm at the tower now Fox. I think I can see something over where you said you are. You're right, that thing's big; I can spot parts of it protruding out from above the buildings. Velvet, where are you and Neo?"

"We're over on the far West of the village."

"Right, I have eyes on where I think the Grimm is, it's on the East. If you spot any civilians, you can get them out of the village and past the tree line surrounding the village. Tell them to make their way round to the South side and as far away from the village as they can, we know where the creature is now, so we might as well make use of the situation."

"Understood Coco."

"If I call you again, it's because it's getting closer. Pull back and get them to hide if you can when you hear that."

"Got it."

"Fox, keep heading for Yatsu. I'll map out the path that thing's taking."

"On it." Messy copper hair flowed as the boy ran towards the ever-brightening glow of his partner's Aura in the distance.

Coco sat atop the tower and got a layout of the land around her. There was a wedge of her surroundings she couldn't see due to the pillar of smoke obstructing it; hopefully her team and that Grimm wouldn't go behind it at all or, if they did they don't stay behind it too long. The village itself was fairly small in comparison to others in the area. Going off information she and her team learnt in their Geography lessons about Vale and its surroundings and Yatsuhashi's found recollections of the village he grew up in, Hai-no Hana had a tower right near it's centre with everything else spidering outwards from that point. Everything was fairly evenly spaced as well, with the furthest point being about one thousand metres away from the centre of the village forming almost a perfect circle of protection around it. On top of that, most of the buildings (that remained standing) were no taller than three stories high; the vast majority being two, some even only one. In contrast to that, the tower Coco was atop seemed to easily be about four or five stories above the floor - which meant that there was nothing obstructing her line of view and she could basically see the entire village from up here. It was a wonder how no one from the village had thought to put a watchtower up here. But then again, they wouldn't have needed one before now.

She sat up there for ten minutes before she heard anything else from anyone. "Coco, we're coming in." Upon hearing Velvet's message, Coco hopped down to the smaller roof of the large building the tower came from and waited for her teammates to appear on the adjacent roof. Velvet wasted no time in letting Coco have all the information she and Neo had gathered. "There are very few entrances to the village - there's the one myself and Neo came in by, the main one just shy of North and a possible third one on the East side; we didn't check that way due to you mentioning the Grimm was there."

"That I did." She placed her two fingers in her ear as she opened up comms for Fox. "Fox did you catch that?"

"Sorry, no."

"There are only two main entrances - North and South. Was there anything on the East side that you noticed?"

"Nothing I could make out. Yatsu or one of the locals may provide a clearer answer than we could."

"Good call." The leader's attention focussed back on the pair near her. "Did you find anyone on your travels?" Neo shook her head as Velvet spoke the reply that matched. "Alright then, I need you to head to the South West side of the village and perform a basic sweep for life. Ask anyone you come across who may know of any alternative routes out of here besides the main gates - if this thing's as big as we think it is then I want to give it as little chance as we can to follow. If possible, get them to show it to you. Call back when you hear anything new Velv." The girls nodded and took off towards their new objective as Coco made her way back up to the top of the tower. On her ascent she heard a deep sound resonating in her ear.

"Team CFVY, this is Yatsuhashi." A grin crossed her face when she heard that.

"Welcome back Yatsu."

"It's good to be back, Coco." The towering student was kneeling down inside one of the buildings nearer the outskirts of the village with many people inside. Fox did his best to go around and attend to people's wounds where he could, channelling minute parts of his Aura in to them to aid recovery. He didn't want / couldn't afford to overdo it with the healing as he was well aware of the fight the five of them would have on their hands, and the more Aura at his own disposal, the better. "Listen, things aren't looking great. There are a lot of people who are injured in here, and those that aren't hurt refuse to move from the sides of the ones that are in an effort to stay positive and balance out the negativity. We're all pretty sure the Nuckelavee knows we're all here and it's almost toying with us - it senses the negativity in here and as time moves on that is only going to grow and it is only going to draw nearer. A few brave villagers have tried multiple times to draw its attention away from the building to let people in here escape for proper medical attention elsewhere or to get reinforcements, but sadly their efforts were in vain. I have refused to let anyone else leave since."

"It sounds bad."

"It is. And it's faster than it appears, I think it could make it from one wall of the village to the other in about two minutes. You couldn't outrun it."

"Yatsu's right Coco; there's some people in here I wouldn't want budging. Evac's a no-no until we can get some proper help, and that probably won't come until that thing is gone."

"Shit..." The girl now stood atop the tower once again, staring at the tall moving mass of black and white that must have been the Nuckelavee as it moved its way around the village. "Velvet, did you catch that?"

"I did, yeah. What's your plan?" The fashionista surveyed the land once again and spotted a large open patch of land on the West side of the village, a decently sized square of open space almost begging to be an arena.

"Velvet, you and Neo need to make your way to the square on the West side of the village. I'll be with you shortly; we need to defeat this thing. Fox and Yatsuhashi, I'm going to need you to lay some breadcrumbs for that thing. I want the fight as far away from those people as we can make it. Yatsu, you know of the Western Square right?

"Yes. I can see your plan Coco. How should we get it there?"

"Like I said; breadcrumbs. I'm going to need you to get its attention and get it to follow you. Yatsu, if you go on ahead and let Fox do the luring it'll give you a bit of a head start to get here."

"Great... live bait. My _favourite_ role in the team. How did you guess?" Fox deadpanned that entire remark.

"Alright big guy, get your ass in gear and meet us at the square. Fox, hold fast until I give the signal, then move away from the injured civilians, get its attention and run Westward like there's no tomorrow!"

"Already died once Coco; it doesn't faze me anymore."

"...Neo's telling me, and I quote: 'Stop being a dick about that, you're not immune to death and still owe me something anyway'."

"The kiss can wait Neo!"

"She says 'If you're dead, the conversation we had would have been pointless too'."

"Easy lovebirds, we'll need five of us to take it down. Yatsu?"

"Already on my way there."

"Perfect. I'm dropping from the tower now, I'll meet you all there. Fox, on my mark."

The emptiness of the square resonated with the mute and the Faunus once they'd arrived. Sure, the village had been empty all the time that they were there, but this was a whole new level of empty. Before, footsteps echoed off the walls of the abandoned and/or destroyed buildings they walked past. Now, they disappear into a wide open space of nothing, the air around them taking the sounds away from them. It was eerie to say the least. The two girls did a quick glance around the square and took in everything - buildings surrounding it that weren't completely destroyed were no more than three stories high, so a low level fight could be expected. The ground was completely flat, save maybe the odd brick that jutted out from the floor slightly on the paths. There was a grassy area with flowerbeds near the middle as well. The flowers were currently blooming, but Velvet assumed that these flowers probably wouldn't make it to see the next day due to how destructive they could be as a group when they fought. All in all, this was essentially a larger training area.

Coco found her way to the square with relative ease, arriving seven minutes after her transmission. Seeing the other two girls there, she called out to the rest.

"Guys, I'm at the square now. Fox, sneak out and get at least a couple of streets away from where the townspeople are all being holed up and wait for my command. Yatsu, where are you now?"

"I am at the village centre, only a few streets away from the square."

"So you could be here soon?"

"Very soon."

"Alrighty then. Fox, disregard my last order; once you are far enough away and know where that creature is, get its attention. Keep on your toes, but stay near to the main roads that lead to the centre tower, and then follow the road opposite towards the Western square. We'll all be there. It's up to you to get it to join us."

"Understood." He cut the feed off and breathed out heavily. He wasn't exactly pleased that he was doing this; a very large, ground-based Grimm that could cross two kilometres in as many minutes, making it faster than basically everyone here today with the exception of Neo when she used her semblance, that he had to lure to the rest of his team... oh well. He recalled from the museum that dying wasn't too terrible of an experience. What shook him more was the fact that he was confident in himself back then , and yet he had died. Now that he was unsure of himself... let's just say Fox believed that it didn't bode well.


	19. The Cries of The Downed, of The Damning, and of The Damned

Tan skin snuck its way down the sides of buildings as he did his best to get as much distance between him and the place where everyone was remaining. There were easily hundreds of people in that building, all looking to remain as calm and as positive as they could - a task that was very difficult considering the injuries some of them had sustained. He knew he needed to give them every opportunity to survive, and getting this thing away from them was step one. The clopping of hooves echoed in his ears once again. The mass of darkness passed through his vision from right to left and he held his emotions in check as it did so. As the sound resonated further and further to his left, Fox left the safety of the alleyway he was in and eased his way out, staying low. He used his semblance and got a proper feel of the beast. It towered over him, the horse body easily a storey to a storey and a half tall, and it looked very strong as well. It was now or never.

Fox pushed his Aura through his feet and flew himself upwards and towards the monster. With some mid-air manoeuvring, his feet landed on the creature's hide at the same time his elbows dug backwards and drove the blades of his weapons into the creature's dark skin. An inhuman screech followed that almost knocked Fox off balance, but he kept his composure somewhat. He lifted the blades out and pushed himself off, landing with a roll and he began running West. There was no time to look around anymore, his mind was set on "Get to the rest of the team, now!" and nothing was going to stray his thoughts. He focussed on the four lights in the distance that he knew were his three teammates and his girlfriend. Each time a foot hit the floor, he pushed harder against it. If this thing was fast, then he needed to be faster. After a few seconds, there was almost a gallop heard from his rear as the Nuckelavee gave pursuit. Fox held the lead he'd made for all of thirteen seconds before the sound of Grimm hooves and cracking bones grew ever closer with each step.

The four people standing in the square lowered their stances as they heard the hooves grow closer. A Greatsword unsheathed, a Gatling gun unfolded and started whirring slightly. They waited for their moment. The hooves grew closer but no one could hear footsteps to go with it. Neo's expression grew more and more worried as the lack of footsteps approached.

She soon realised why.

With what sounded like a heavy attack on the Grimm's part and a cry of pain, Fox was sent flying out from behind the Eastern buildings on the side, way across the open space, landing past the group and just past the grassy area on a path on concrete bricks. He wasn't sure what hurt more; the force of the kick, the impact on the floor, or the fact that he just missed a patch of grass that might have lessened the force of the second option. Eyes glanced at where Fox had flown from, and for the first time they saw the creature in its entirety. There was a horse body that almost stood higher than a few of the buildings around them, its mane smoking with a smoke that they usually saw upon defeating a Grimm. Its front two legs made it look like it had more clawed feet than hooves. There were two arm like appendages hanging from a limp black mass on the creature's back, the claws at the end twitching every so often with a sound of crunching bone. Once the main body stopped moving, the black mass spasmodically twitched into life. The spikes on its back grew to prominence and the horned humanoid head stared at the five. Its skin-less torso jolted at every movement it made, a bone chilling sight if ever there was one.

This was what a Nuckelavee looked like.

This is why any written recounts of it were nothing but jargon.

This thing was nightmare fuel incarnate.

It screeched as if emulating a battle cry, then ran at them.

"Move!" Coco shouted. In an instant four bodies jumped out of the way of its charge, the leader jumping and retracting her giant weapon back into its more compact form, all while the smallest of them dashed backwards to grab her boyfriend and then promptly shattered out of existence as clawed feet crushed down on the position the pair were moments before. Fox shook the pain out of his head and looked up at Neo, her multi-coloured Aura glowing pleasantly, a few trace, wispy tendrils on her arm reaching out and clasping at tendrils coming from his own, slightly dented Aura.

~ _Fox, are you alright?_ ~

"I'm fine..." the pain shooting through his core from the impact said otherwise. "Okay, I hurt basically everywhere... other than _that_ , I'm fine."

~ _We need to get you-_ ~

"Back into the fight." Neo knew that he'd interrupted her, knowing full well what she was thinking. Before she had a chance to try and refuse, Fox continued. "Listen, that thing packs one hell of a punch. We all need to be there, working as a team to take it down."

~ _I'm not part of your team. I don't need to take orders._ ~

" _Can_ you take orders?"

~ _What? Of course I can take orders._ ~

"Do you trust Coco, Velvet, Yatsuhashi and I?"

~ _Yes!_ ~

"Congratulations, you're the fifth member of Team CFVY." His light-hearted nature calmed the ice cream girl, knowing that he was willing to do this. She helped him up and they threw themselves back into the fight. "Going to need to re-jig the name a bit though," he muttered to himself at the end.

Whilst they were having their conversation, Coco, Velvet and Yatsuhashi were running rings around the thing trying to get an idea of how it fought. When Fox and Neo re-joined, it didn't hesitate to show them. Its clawed arm stretched as it went for Coco, the girl barely stopping before the arm flew past her face and into the building near her. She, along with Velvet, looked at it in terror.

"Okay... that's new." With a flick, its arm flung out catching her and Yatsuhashi, and knocking them into another wall. Failing to hit the Faunus with its first strike, the Nuckelavee shot its second arm out towards her, previous momentum carrying her into its path as it slammed her into the floor, a cry of pain involuntarily flying from her lips.

"Velvet!" At once, the tank moved towards the beast, Greatsword dragging along behind him. The sound the Grimm's body made when it bent its body backwards to look at the oncoming threat was enough to make stomachs churn. Both its elastic arms came back to their normal length as readied itself for the attack to come. It fired an arm at the boy, but he was ready and he spun round slightly and swung the sword out catching the Grimm's skin and getting it caught in it. The howl that came from it was inhuman - well, it _was_ a Grimm so that explained that away - the sound of pain even more unbearable to the five people attacking than the pain the creature itself must be feeling.

With a shudder and a wave of something flowing down it, the arm grew bony spikes from it where the sword stuck, forcing the giant blade out and away, its owner with it. There were a few moments of solitude when Yatsuhashi landed as Coco finished formulating another plan.

But the words couldn't come fast enough.

With cracks echoing everywhere, the spiny protrusions on its back grew longer and more menacing, as did the horns on its head. The glowing mouth that was almost sewn shut now had its thread breaking and the full gape to be revealed, its red eyes turned into slits as this happened. It let out another roar, only this time the sound and intensity was so much greater than the first time. It was uncomfortably loud for Coco and Yatsuhashi, and painfully loud for Neo and Fox - what with their lack of one sense their others heightened ever so slightly to compensate. But an even worse noise came from within it.

A familiar sounding cry of agony.

A female voice they all recognised.

Velvet.

Coco's head turned to see her girlfriend clutching her head as the pain shot through her like blades. She was a Rabbit Faunus, a being with hearing so acute they could pick out a whisper at 50 metres when conditions were right. Now, she had the equivalent of continuous explosions 10 metres from her head. She cried out as the sound continued, hoping her cries would cancel out the pain she was feeling. Her screaming was only weakening as the sound continued from the Grimm. When it finished, Fox felt the Aura weaken inside Velvet as she collapsed from immense pain, the scarlet crackle of lightning on her body indicating that it was no longer protecting her physically and was instead shutting down to so that it could focus all its energy into helping her heal and stop her from dying. Coco's cry was almost as painful to listen to as her partner's, screaming her name and breaking her role as team leader to instead be scared-out-of-her-mind girlfriend. So long as Coco could get to Velvet and get her away, she'd be a lot better. The Nuckelavee targeted her first though. Its clawed arms came up and attempted to slam itself down on its now unconscious prey. Another cry of the Faunus' name as the fashionista realised that she would be there in time to save her girlfriend from being crushed to death by the thing.

There was a shatter, followed by a second, then finally the sound of an arm hitting something. Yatsuhashi and Coco stared as Fox and Neo held the arm up to stop it killing their friend. In the length of time it took for the creature to swing its arm, Neo had teleported to Fox, then teleported both herself and her boyfriend in between it and their unconscious friend, blocking the attack. Coco continued running towards the thing as she scooped up her unconscious girlfriend and ran away as far and as fast as she could go.

"Keep it distracted!"

"Right!" The shout from Yatsuhashi as he jumped up and plunged his blade into the creature's hide was all Coco needed to know that they had her back. Neo and Fox moved as a unit, one person's actions being mirrored by the other almost instinctively. As the giant arm lifted when it recoiled in pain, the pair dashed underneath it and took a slash and stab at both its underbelly and its hind legs before shooting out the other side as it collapsed slightly. The three of them stood in a line as it rose again and rotated to stare them down.

"Anyone have any plans?" Fox asked with heavy breaths.

"There are still too many things that we do not know about the creature. Maybe we should wait for Coco to get back."

~ _No time. Draw it away from Velvet, we need Coco. I have an idea._ ~ She dashed forward as Yatsu reached out a hand to stop her. Fox just caught it and explained.

"She said she had an idea. We need to get it further away from Velvet." Yatsuhashi, whilst a little bit apprehensive as he didn't hear or see Neo suggest the plan, agreed and turned with Fox from where they stood to the beast. The creature tried to crush her with its hooves but Fox and Yatsuhashi were already nearby to stop it and distract it again. They got its attention, they started drawing it away from where it had rested. Neo shot past it and halted when she got to Coco who was cradling unconscious Velvet in her arms with tears running down her cheeks as she mumbled and cursed herself.

"C'mon Velv, c'mon, wake up for me. Please Velv. Please! I was stupid and careless, it was my fault. Don't scare me Velvet I need to-" A small tap on her shoulders shook her as she was expecting the only things to contact her were Velvet and the Nuckelavee. Instead it was Neo, a sight she breathed a sigh of relief at. Neo signed her thoughts to Coco.

{" _We need you back in the fight. I have a plan, it's risky but it may give us the range advantage if it works._ "} Unable to word, Coco simply nodded, gave her girlfriend a caring kiss between the ears that both said, "This Faunus is mine" to other Faunus, and "Please, be safe" directly to Velvet, and lay her down to rest. She wiped tears away from her eyes as her brow furrowed.

"I like it. Let's kill that thing!"

{" _Right, I need you to get its attention. Shoot at it, force it to attack you._ "}

"...I don't like it so much."

{" _Coco, once we have the range, that's it; the battle is ours practically. It's the only way I can think of, and I need the other two for things anyway._ "}

"Fair enough," she said, running out away from Velvet as she transformed her bag into its Gatling gun form once again. Fox and Yatsuhashi were keeping the Nuckelavee busy, jumping from side to side and avoiding its attacks. Without warning, there were suddenly lots of bullets flying at the creature's back and, by extension, the two students. They jumped out of the way as the Grimm spun its upper torso around jarringly fast to face the source of this hail of metal. There were only two people in this team who could attack from range. One was Coco with her Gatling gun. The other was Velvet when she used her semblance to mimic a weapon with gun functionalities, however she was currently out of commission. Fox knew that he wouldn't be able to wield a firearm due to his blindness and while Yatsuhashi _could_ , he opted out in favour of a much more up close and personal fighting style. Neo seemed to be the same as Yatsuhashi, although her ability to essentially teleport almost rendered her lack of a firearm obsolete. _Almost_. That left Coco to do all the gunning, and she had a lot of bullets to make up for everyone else's lack of them, so she really didn't mind.

The creature threw an arm at the ground where Coco stood, but she hopped out of the way of the clawed appendage as is caused a nice crater in the ground where she once was. As this happened, she heard a familiar click and saw a flash of light from one side of the creature. Neo was... taking photos?!

"This is _not_ the time to be sight-seeing Neo!" Coco yelled, firing out another wave of bullets at the creature. It did very little damage, merely impacting the skin and only really made it angrier. As the rounds impacted the skin, there was another click and flash of the Scroll camera. "NEO!" The woman genuinely didn't care, she was almost in her own little world. She smiled and waved at Coco, whose vision went red from rage. _One turn,_ she thought. _One turn,_ _and I could point this thing right at you and put a sizeable hole in your Aura!_ She was snapped out of her fury at the woman by another hand slamming down just short of her, the monster had misjudged the space and failed to close the distance properly.

"Yatsu!" Fox called, earning his partner's attention. "Neo says that next time it makes a slam for Coco, try and take its arm. I'm going to try and pin that claw to the ground to make it easier for you." The tall boy nodded as burnt orange and black blurred off to one side, advancing fast on the creature's left. Yatsuhashi readied his Greatsword and ran towards it. True to form, the Grimm swung an arm down to try and catch Coco. She'd tried to avoid getting it near Velvet, but every dodge she made inadvertently edged her closer. This swing was going to land dangerously close to her. As the claw impacted the ground, Fox leapt from the side and pinned it down by jamming the blades of his weapons through the black skin and partially into the concrete below. He did his best to cover his ears at the terrifying noise of pain from the creature whilst still keeping the arm stuck, Nuckelavee cries were painful. There was a click and flash pointed directly at the humanoid face. Coco noticed how the creature was going for another attack aimed at Fox to get him off and to free its left arm, but there was another cry of pain as a Greatsword cleaved the pinned arm off in one powerful swing of the blade. The overstretched arm fell to the ground with a crash as black smoke started bursting from the wound. *Click, Click, Click!*

The monster pivoted round to focus solely on Yatsuhashi now; he was a big threat to the Nuckelavee, he took its arm. Fox looked at Neo as she spoke to him.

~ _Fox, I need you to get it rearing up, expose its underbelly if you can. Try just getting really close, that worked last time._ ~

~ _Sure, but what's actually the plan here?_ ~

~ _You'll see,_ ~ she winked with a sly smile as she jumped in towards the fray. Fox followed her lead and got really close to the front legs of the beast. Knowing that they were within stomping range, the Nuckelavee reared itself high, exposing its underbelly. ***Click!*** The hooves came crashing down onto Fox's weapons as he struggled to keep them from hitting him. ***Click!***

Bullets rained into the side of the beast, throwing it off balance. Coco stood there and let it have everything she had. Fox pushed away the front legs of the beast and started working on the belly, jabbing and slashing causing cut after cut to appear on the monster. Yatsuhashi once again brought his Greatsword back for a powerful swing, the blade neatly cleaving through the rear legs and bringing it down, Fox narrowly missed getting crushed - an action the tall student failed to completely think through before he took it. He was caught off guard by the remaining arm of the Nuckelavee stretching and knocking him away into a wall. Whilst it did that, Coco ran up and jumped on its back and fired repeatedly into the crook of the arm, ripping it out of its joint through the sheer number of bullets tearing through such a small space. Another howl of pain as the upper body slumped, armless but not necessarily out for the count yet.

Yatsuhashi fell to the floor, landing on uneasy feet. He slowly edged his way back to the monster. For all intents and purposes, the thing was defeated. Neo casually walked up to the thing as it roared in her face her parasol twirling all the while. She stood there unfazed, then took out her Scroll one last time. ***Click!*** Grinning, she shut the parasol and with one fluid movement, pull out the blade hidden in the hilt and thrust it deep into the skull of the Nuckelavee. Now, it was truly dead; the black mist slowly seeping from the skin and the body turning flaky and blowing away in the wind.

Neo looked back at the remaining three members of CFVY and smiled. Coco was having none of it.

"Okay, what the _fuck_ was that all about?! You were taking _pictures_ whilst we fought that thing!" Neo backed away ever so slowly; this was the first time any of them had seen Neo look scared of someone and that knocked a little bit of sense into the dual haired team leader. "Just... explain. Please." The girl nodded, signing away and speaking to Fox in his head as she did so.

{" _I just thought, seeing as there were no accurately documented sightings of a Nuckelavee, I'd go and take some photos and get it published so that people in the future know what to do to stop them from getting hurt._ "} Coco's eyes visibly widened from behind her sunglasses as she remembered that Velvet was still lying around somewhere. She ran off to find her, taking Yatsuhashi along to help. That left Fox and Neo alone.

"You were taking photos? I was wondering what that clicking sound was..."

~ _Like I said, we could give these to someone so that there's an official record of what it looks like, acts like and how it attacks. Then we can at least have some idea for future reference._ ~ She looked out to the two members of Team CFVY as one carried the unconscious third in his arms whilst the other held her hand. ~ _Such as, "Faunus' with sensitive/acute hearing should take extra care due to its sonic screech in its second stage" or something._ ~

"Y'know, I knew there was a reason I started falling for you."

~ _What, besides the fact we have something attached to our souls?_ ~

"Yeah: you truly care about others. You've spent so long hiding that, but deep down you are the sort of person I knew existed in the world but very rarely saw."

~ _...really? Sight jokes?_ ~ She giggled, echoing his exact thoughts from the end of their unofficial date.

~ _You love 'em, don't deny it._ ~ He too echoed her words, also jumping to his inner voice as well.

~ _Just as much as I love you._ ~ Neo eased her way closer to him, her eyes resting on his lips.

~ _Sap._ ~ He quipped back, smirking the kind of smirk Neo usually wore.

~ _Shut up._ ~ They were tauntingly close to one another, about as close as they were when Yatsuhashi called through for assistance yesterday.

~ _Make me._ ~ That was it, the push they both needed. The pair finally closed the gap between them as their lips met. Neo felt the roughness of his lips from both the scars and the fact that he was a little dehydrated from being part of the first documented case of defeating a Nuckelavee. He felt her lips against his and caught the faintest taste of ice cream. Which reminded him... But for now, he focussed on how natural it felt being with her, and how all his worries were fading away in the moment.

As their lips parted and eyes slid open, they looked at one another and felt happy; happier than it felt like they'd ever been in their entire lives. As they took each other's hand and walked to the remainder of Team CFVY, Fox's memory jogged from earlier.

"Hey, so if Neo's going to be part of the team, officially or otherwise, we're going to need to have a new name aren't we." Coco looked at him, her eyes puffy from crying at the sight of Velvet again.

"Yeah, though I may have beaten you to the punch if you were going to be doing any thinking regarding the name."

"Oh yeah? So what would this five person team be called then?"

"You haven't figured it out? Team CFVYN {Caffeine}"

"I like it." The booming voice of Yatsuhashi came quite quickly, as if he'd already heard the idea before.

"Me too. What do you think, Ni?" He looked at his girlfriend as she stood there, mouth agape in shock, a tear pooling in the corner of her brown eye.

_I'm part of a team..._


	20. Walk and Talk...ish

_I'm part of a team!_ If Neo could shout, she would be doing it right about now. The way that Fox recoiled slightly at how loud the voice in his head spoke, and the fact that she jumped about like an ecstatic bunny, even made it seem like she was anyway. Coco saw that and it reminded her of the first time Velvet involuntarily started to binky at something exciting, arguably _the_ cutest thing she had ever seen. {" _I'm part of a team!_ "} She signed, making sure her friends - no, her new teammates (oh my Oum, she had  _teammates!_ ) - knew what she was thinking.

"Yes you are Neo; Welcome to Team CFVYN. As we do not have the luxury of Little Miss Scarlatina's presence, I suggest we all head back and make sure that she's okay first. Then, we can move on to the Coco Adel Mandatory Enrolment Games - CAME Games, for short." Neo watched as Yatsuhashi physically squirmed at the mention of these 'CAME Games', that made her all the more excited to play them. She gripped Fox's arm in an iron grasp from sheer joy, stopping only when he faintly muttered "Ow," at the discomfort.

"First though Coco, we need to go and tend to the villagers. Some of them are in need of medical attention, and along with Velvet, will need to be on the first airships away." Yatsuhashi was always matter of fact when it came to things like this. He could have his fun moments, but he knew how to behave when the time came. Coming off the end of mission high she'd put herself on, the dual haired leader focussed on the remainder of the task.

"Good point, I'd actually forgotten about them - we came here with getting you out as main priority, killing that thing as second, _then_ dealing with casualties as third. Right, someone needs to call medical airships to here. Get them to land in the square on the East side of the village then we can get those in dire need loaded on first and fast." She glanced down at Velvet who she knew wasn't top priority, there were probably people in much worse conditions. But for her, _no one_ is more important than her little Easter Bunny. "Fox, can you make the call?"

"I can, sure."

"Good, get on that. Then you two lovebirds can shoot on ahead and make sure the critical ones are loaded on first; we're going to take a little bit longer, need to make sure Velvet's going to be okay." The new couple smiled as a sign of acknowledgement, then walked off back to the East as Fox pulled out his Scroll to call for medical Evac in Hai-no Hana. The two older members of the team looked at their teammates walking off, Yatsuhashi sighing at the sight.

"Wouldn't have pinned you as a sigher Yatsu. Enjoying the view?"

"Not enjoying it as much as you are," he mentioned. She playfully scoffed in acknowledgement. "More, I am happy for his happiness. As I am for hers. Both of them are broken and scarred in some way, yet they seem to love each other no matter what. I also like the fact that she learned to read braille just for Fox. It is quite endearing."

"That it is." Neo's hearing, whilst not Faunus-levels good, could still make out what they were saying from the distance away they were. Hearing them talk about her and Fox behind their back in a positive way was so reassuring. She knew that she could trust these four, they would do anything for her just as she'd do...

~ _Fox.~_ her thoughts stopped her in her tracks.

"Neo, what's up?" The woman put her finger to her lips, gestured to her head and then kept walking. She could tell when they were going to be listened to, and even if Velvet was unconscious, that doesn't mean she'd stay that way. ~ _What's wrong Ni?_ ~

~ _Coco's dress. It's still at The Cloak isn't it?_ ~

~ _Should be. Do you want to grab it on the way back and show it to her?_ ~

~ _Fox, I've been with you the entirety of today. You saw how far along I was when you went there yesterday, it's not close to completed by any stretch of the imagination._ ~

~ _How did you know I went there?_ ~

' _My semi-conscious mind knows what that poor excuse for a bed feels like. You never forget that feeling..._ ' she shook her head at the memory of the mattress, if you could even call it that. ' _That's a job for tomorrow then._ '

~ _Maybe not. See, CAME Games aren't exactly..._ ~ the words weren't difficult to say, saying them to his girlfriend-turned-teammate was the difficult bit. ~ _They're very... adventurous._ ~ That still didn't seem right, but it'd have to do.

When they were new with one another, the CAME Games were a bit of fun - drunken fun, but fun nonetheless. Coco kissed every single member of her team at least once, though she kissed Velvet most. "Those are the rules of the CAME Games," he remembered her slurring. "One, because it's custom to do so. Two, because you and I are the same sex and therefore we must kiss. Three, you are a Faunus and I am not and I always wanted to kiss a Faunus. Four, just because you're really cute." After each of those reasons Coco leaned over and kissed the Rabbit Faunus. After each one, the red hue on Velvet's face grew. By the second one, she was enjoying herself. Fox was pretty sure that on the fourth one Velvet actually started the lean into the kiss before Coco. And that was long before any feelings were shared between the two, at least openly. Back when they were just two teammates. That was when Fox had kissed her as well, but he'd mentioned to Neo before, Coco was royally sloshed when that happened, and he was rather drunk as well.

Doing all of that with Neo as his girlfriend-turned-teammate made him a little bit nervous.

~ _Whatever you're worrying about, stop it._ ~ She read him like a book, and he did his best to hide his worry in the back of his mind. ~ _I'll be fine. Besides, it's not like I can blurt out the person I like drunkenly and they looked shocked. We're in a relationship they already know of. Shock horror!_ '

"What about Coco?" he spoke, realising that they were well out of hearing range, even for Velvet. Neo's eyes shifted to ivory in an instant. He was right, she did like Coco. A lot.

~ _What... what about her?_ ~

"You said so yourself. She said 'Fuck me' and your response was...?" He held his hand out, as if asking her to say what she had said previously.

~ _I may or may not have possibly said "Okay then", maybe..._ ~

"There we go. Still feel that way?"

~ _Fox, she is stunning; of course I still feel that way. But I have you, and she has Velvet. I realised that, after I had thought what I did, that I shouldn't have, but it was out there now. And now you know, so I don't feel too bad for saying it._ ~

"So, if she said it again?"

~ _Nope._ ~

"What if she asked?"

Neo hesitated slightly before letting out a definite, ~ _Won't happen.~_

Fox was intent on pushing this as far as she would allow - this is probably what Coco feels like a lot of the time when she's teasing the rest of her team with something. "What if, Gods forbid, Coco were to stand up, strip down to her bare skin, walked right up to you, sat on your lap, looked you deep in the eyes and asked - no, begged - you with that same question? What would your response be then Ni?" The words were there. She was desperate to blurt them out in her mind. But she held them back... not strongly enough though. A small crack in her defences let a single question loose.

~ _Who else is there?_ ~ Her eyes widened as she heard her inner voice speak. They widened even more when Fox ran with the idea.

"The whole team's there, all five of us."

And cue the floodgates.

~ _Oh then totally! I'm sorry Fox but I would not let that opportunity slip through my fingertips because, I mean, dear Oum she is amazing and she looks stunning and she always dresses so fantastically and I still stand by my previous comment of how nice her bum is and I bet she's fantastic in bed too and... ugh, Velvet is so lucky!_ ~ She composed herself slightly to look at her boyfriend as she finished her outburst. ~ _No offense._ ~

"None taken. So we're in agreement then?"

~ _Yeah, I guess we kind of- what?_ ~

"What? A boy can't fantasise?" He leaned in to whisper, despite there being a completely undetectable and much easier and safer way of communicating between one another. "They think they're quiet, or they think I'm asleep. Sometimes, it's one or the other, but on a few occasions it's been both. They sound like they were having 'fun'. And sounds like that make a single young adult man go crazy. I've always wondered, and it's always lingered there as an after-afterthought."

~ _Sweet. I'd get first dibs on Coco._ ~

"Hey, whoa, slow down there Ni. First, _I_ am completely inexperienced in that field as opposed to you, Coco and Velvet, who most likely have more combined hours having sex than I've spent awake in Professor Port's classes over the past year and a half. I wouldn't want to be jumping head first into the life of sex with _three_ well versed people who would most likely judge me like a sack of Nevermore dung against a perfectly pristine and reserved Deathstalker Tail."

~ _Well, I mean... I'm more than happy to help you with your first time. If that's what you want._ ~ He smiled at his girlfriend's inner voice, it was no longer playful and teasing, it had shifted to a much more caring tone. ~ _I just want you to know that I am not pressuring you into anything. I may be a lot of things - murderer included - but even I have some morals I'd prefer to keep squeaky clean._ ~ Fox couldn't help but let out a hearty laugh.

"'Look at me, I'm Neo. I won't pressure you into sex, but I'll stab a bitch if I get paid to do so!' Hahaha..." If looks could kill, not only would Fox be dead, but his ancestors would have died too, had they been alive. "ha... oh, that was too good an opportunity to pass up; sorry Ni."

~ _You'd best be thankful I really love you, else you wouldn't have even finished your sentence._ ~

"Regardless, I think that's probably the best idea. I want to be with you, I know that much is a certainty. But - and this is a big but..." Neo giggled, thinking back to Coco. "...child." She stuck her tongue out at him. "Point proven. Anyway; if Coco's thing goes through there is a possibility with it happening. I'm just... readying you on the off chance."

~ _I said I'll be fine, and I mean it._ ~ She stood on her tiptoes and planted a kiss on his cheek; their height difference is going to make those sort of gestures very one sided when they were standing next to each other like this. Thank Oum she didn't like Yatsuhashi... ~ _If it'll make you feel easier, I'll hold off a bit on the drinking so that nothing does happen.~_

"Yeah, no." The woman cocked her head to the side. "Ground rules of the CAME Games, if memory serves. It's a two day thing, and not because that's how long we play for, but because you have to drink so much on the first day that the second is spent trying to rid yourself of the hangover. 'Every drink you are given must be finished by you'. And Coco, especially tipsy Coco, gives drinks out like they're candy on Hallowe'en. Drunk Coco kinda does as well, but to a lesser extent. Wasted Coco doesn't share. She'll 'give' you a drink, then knock it back herself. Also, she's very grabby at that stage."

~ _Nice, I love it when someone grabs hold of me._ ~ Neo threw the ball up, Fox felt obliged to hit it. He swirled round and enveloped Neo in a bear hug from behind, similar to the hug they had in Neo's shop, only a lot tighter now as they were out of the public eye.

"Yay! You love me now!"

~ _I did not mean like this and you know it._ ~

"But I _don't_ know what you mean, I am but an innocent, pure minded little man who has never had an impure thought in his life. Please, teach me what you know."

~ _Oh, go suck a dick Fox!~_

"I believe that's your job now Neo." She took a second to process what he'd said. Damn, that was good. Fox took a step forward, but rather than take one as well Neo instead rested her foot atop Fox's, her other leg doing the same. They waddled - because this sure as hell wasn't walking - for a minute or two before Neo spoke again.

~ _Wait, you said "First" earlier, like there was going to be a second reason. What was it?_ ~

"Hmm? Oh that. Well, I know who you and I, Coco and Velvet would be with _if_ it goes down. What about Yatsu? What'd he be in your little world of make-believe?"

~ _Oh yeah. I... um... cameraman?_ ~ Fox was laughing so hard at the comment that he lost focus of what was in front of him and tripped on an outgrowing tree root. He tried to turn his body so that he would hit the ground and not Neo, but because the ground was being particularly fast today it caught him mid turn as both he and Neo landed on their sides. ~ _They really need to keep maintenance up when they fix..._ ~ Fox had noticed it too; trees. He shuffled round, bringing Neo with him; Hai-no Hana was now over half its length away. They'd wandered into the forest in almost a trance. Fox's Scroll buzzed and Neo saw it was Coco. Their ears hurt the second he pressed 'Answer'.

 _*Oh, so **now** you pick up!*_ Coco bellowed through the Scroll _*Where the fuck even are you?! Evac is here.*_

"Well we..." he was going to lie, but Neo felt his lie building and smashed the idea down.

~ _Just tell her the truth, what harm will it do?_ ~

 _~Famous last words, those._ ~ "We lost our bearing, and lost track of where we were supposed to go. It would have probably carried on for longer, so thanks for actually snapping us out of it."

_*I swear, if you're listening Neo, if you're already dancing the No Pants Dance with Fox, I will revoke this honorary letter from the end of Team CFVYN so hard it'll-*_

"Coco, it was fine; no pants... I mean yes pants, I mean... shit..." He felt the unease growing through the Scrolls and into Fox. "We walked and I tripped on a root. We realised we were talking so much we forgot where we were to stop." There was a huff through the Scroll as Coco answered.

 _*I believe you.*_ The silence was brief as Coco was not done. _*But for putting me on edge, you two need to supply drinks for the CAME Games. Evac leaves in fifteen. Be there, or you are walking home.*_ A dead tone played as Coco hung up. She knew she would be explaining it to them later anyway, so why waste her breath. They looked at each other and smiled.

~ _I'll keep quiet until we're in the aircraft,_ ~ Neo bashfully commented feeling responsible for that predicament.

"I don't want you to be, but if that's what you want to do, then okay."

She reached her hand up and kissed his lips once again, her head in an awkward position for the kiss, but the thought and meaning behind it was there, much like the last time.

~ _That going to tide you over?~_

"Yeah, I think that'll do." And they headed back, still waddling as Neo never realised how amazingly simple and mundane this was, but also the most fun she'd had with one person in a while.


	21. Her New F-Word

Velvet had regained consciousness whilst she was on the ride back towards Beacon. Her head was sore, like someone had plucked a Nevermore feather and drove the sharp end into each of her four ears with them meeting in the middle. Other than that, she felt great. Especially when she woke to see Coco, her beautiful girlfriend, staring at her like she was the only thing in the world.

"Hey hunny-bun."

"Mornin'." Coco let out a giggle of relief. "What?"

"We're not at Beacon you dunce. We're on our way back from Hai-no Hana."

"Oh," She looked around at the inside of the Bullhead like it was alien to her, the Faunus caught somewhere between delirium and the real world. "Did we win then?"

"Yeah Velvs, we did. You were great."

"Coco, I may have not realised we weren't in bed, but I remember the fact that Nuckelavee screamed me into unconsciousness and that, judging from how we're all here in relatively one piece, _you_ all beat it without me. Big help. Whoop. Go me." The last three things she said were deadpanned with such sarcasm that Yatsuhashi, who was riding with the girls, felt really uncomfortable about it. Even though he knew how the girls were at times, that one seemed very much more personal than it ever has been before. She almost sounded disappointed in herself for failing like that. His worries were soon silenced when he saw Coco lightly fake a punch across Velvet's cheek, then grab her beret and place it on the Faunus' head.

"Velvet you helped us more than ever. We wouldn't have known about how devastating the effects of its screech would be unless you were there." The Faunus muttered a sarcastic "real big help" under her breath, but Coco continued on all the same. "Also, we got to see Neo's truly amazing leadership skills in action. It was odd, taking orders from someone who's mute, but she saw the whole picture and then some; we've got photos now of the Nuckelavee that we're going to give someone, most likely Professor Port, along with my Mission Report to Ozpin which will also detail its methods of attack. Velvet, we were the first known people to take on a Grimm like that and survive, and thanks to Neo's photos and four people's accounts of the story - five if you want to include what you remember of yours - we will have evidence to back that up. I'm pretty sure there are decently sized rewards for that sort of thing too, not that I'm in it for the money but it's a bonus." She brushed away the hair from her girlfriend's face, smiling. The smile dropped slightly at the sight of the small scab above Velvet's eye where Neo had made her collide with their sink. But her downbeat nature subsided the second she glanced down into the pools of brown that were her eyes.

"Y'know Coco," the Faunus said, staring at her own eyes in the reflection of the gunner's sunglasses, "I don't think I tell you how beautiful you are enough." The hue that Coco's face turned sent a giggle coursing through Velvet's core as she continued. "The fact that you try to be this 'big bad' leader, when in reality you're just as soft and squishy and caring in the centre as the rest of us." She reached up to stroke her cheek with the back of her hand. "The way you act when you're around me makes me feel welcome in your arms." Velvet reached and grabbed the sunglasses blocking her girlfriend's face and pulled them away. For anyone else, that would have been a death wish; Velvet wasn't anyone else. The dark reflective glass was moved and two pairs of brown eyes, one darker than the other, stared at one another. "Your eyes, undoubtedly the single most gorgeous feature on you that you hide behind glasses, are eyes that I can look into and see the lengths you would go to for your team. Not only that, but also the way they glow with a light that screams 'I am so lucky to have this girl by my side with me, and I want that for the rest of my life'."

"They... say that?" she asked, blinking rapidly.

"Well, if they speak the same language mine do, then yes." Yatsuhashi could tell they wanted to kiss, but that would mean they'd need to stop staring into their eyes to do so. And he could tell that option was not happening. They just remained there, Coco sitting on the seat whilst Velvet lay across her, fingers intertwined, both peaceful in the fact that they knew they had the other to look after them.

"What did I do to deserve someone like you?"

"I can't give you specifics I'm afraid. I can generalise though: you did everything right."

* * *

~ _So what sort of things do the other three like?_ ~ Neo asked, wondering through the aisle. She and Fox had taken a different airship than the other three did, heading into Vale instead of straight back to Beacon. If they were on CAME Games Drink Duties, they might as well get things they each like for them, at least to start with. After a while, they'd all probably be too drunk to realise what they were drinking until they saw the bottles in the morning. Fox went through, listing off everyone's preferred drinking choices, including his own as Neo grabbed them from the shelf, all with the exception of Fox's, as he knew which ones were the right ones for him - for those wondering, he could just 'tell', apparently. After relative silence, save the sound of footfall, Neo exhaled in frustration, one of the few audible sounds she could make.

"What?"

~ _I'm going to assume Yatsu likes this one because hardly anyone else can reach it?_ ~ She stared up at the shelf containing the favoured drink of the towering student for CAME Games; Hanazake. His reasoning, according to Fox, was that "If I'm going to be drunk by the end of the night, I might as well have something to get me going." Considering the alcohol percentage in this thing, she could see why. The fact it was on the top shelf was just pure coincidence. ~ _So, how are we actually going to get him some?_ ~

"Well, I have shoulders, an-"

~ _Well observed._ ~

"Neo, I'm answering your question. Please stop being sarcastic for, like, a minute." She nodded. "I have shoulders, and you are pretty light. Why don't you climb up and grab some?" She looked up at the tall shelf again, then at Fox. With a sigh and a smile, she nodded again.

~ _Well, I trust you not to break me, or anything else. And please don't drop me._ ~

"Relax, I'll be fine." He kneeled down so that she could get on his shoulders. "Though my friend is always on hand to help if things go wrong."

~ _You have friends?_ ~ she joked. He looked at her, hurt from her words.

"I'm sure the rest of the team would be glad to hear that."

~ _I was kidding._ ~ She paused briefly. ~ _But seriously though, what friend?_ ~

"My friend, the floor." He leaned down even further and patted the floor like it was a pet. "He's nice and he means well, and he'll always be there to catch you when no one else can. Better watch out though, he's a little hard sometimes."

~ _Well when you put it like that, I wouldn't mind getting to know Mr Floor. I barely know him and he's already hard._ ~ Fox tried to be unimpressed by his girlfriend's constant flow of innuendoes as she climbed on his shoulders, but in his tired state, he just laughed. "That one wasn't half bad," he mentioned as he lifted off the floor.

~ _Ah ha! I'm slowly but surely breaking you!_ ~

"Me, and the bottle if you're not careful." She snapped her head towards the shelf and caught the two bottles that had fallen and were making their break for freedom.

~ _Phew._ ~

"Yeah, be careful next time."

~ _No,_ _ **you**_ _be careful!_ ~ she playfully threatened, covering his eyes.

"...Neo sweetie... Are we forgetting something?"

~ _The booze?_ ~

"No, my eyes." It took her a minute.

~ _Oh, Gods damned it._ ~

"They damned it indeed." She slumped on his shoulders, disheartened at her inability to have a little joke with him due to one tiny lapsed moment she forgot about one of the very things that drew her to him. "Hey." She looked at him, he was bending his neck back as far as it would go so that he could look at her. The petite woman read the invisible signs and leaned her head down and planted a quick kiss on his lips, despite how awkward it was to do so in this position. "Everyone forgets Neo. Even members of my own family have forgotten at one point. It's not a big problem. What is a problem is when I'm bullied for it." Neo shifted her weight backwards, indicating she wanted to be planted firmly on the floor now, despite having quite a lot of fun being the tallest thing in the store.

~ _No one has the right to bully you babe. You've - we've - got an amazingly strong team to help you with that. A strong natured and good willed Faunus, a literal tank of a man, and a team leader who casually carries around a Gatling gun on her belt. And to top it all off, I'm yours as well._ ~ She stopped to grab his scarred hands. ~ _I can be as faithful to you all to the same level as you all had been to me over the last months. I had no reason to come here other than you - something I couldn't even tell them - other than for friendship. I have more than that now; I have a team, a boyfriend, dare I say a real family again. I am so lucky to have you all._ ~

"And we're lucky to have you Neo. Our team _is_ our family, and I'm sure I speak for everyone when I say:"

* * *

"Welcome to the family Neo!" All five of them raised their glasses to the middle of them and clinked them all together before knocking them all back in one swig.

{" _Thanks guys!_ "} she signed, wiping away the drops that spilt on her hand. {" _I can't believe you see me as part of your team._ "}

"Our team now Neo." Coco gave the woman a little hug as she continued. "And as such, I declare that was the first shot of the CAME Games!" She took another shot at her decree, then opened the third of the drinks Neo and Fox got for her and swigged a hefty swig of that as well. She was already heavily tipsy, and they'd been at this for less than twenty minutes. Velvet even squashed their theories of pregaming (unless Coco was a booze ninja and could sneak shots and swigs without the Faunus realising.) The mute shot her boyfriend a glance.

~ _Does she normally knock them back that quick?_ ~

~ _No, this is slow for her..._ ~

~ _SLOW?!_ ~

"Right, so for our newcomer, the rules are simple: get acquainted with the team! Get to know them, and have fun doing it. Watch, I'll show you." She got up and plonked herself down in Velvet's lap, straddling her partner and wrapping her arms around the Faunus' neck. "Hey you."

"Hey."

"My name is Coco Adel." Velvet rolled her eyes and played along with her girlfriend, knowing that by the end of the night she wouldn't be. Might as well leave the self-embarrassment until much later.

"And my name is Velvet Scarlatina." Coco leaned in and placed a long kiss on the girl's lips, something she reciprocated after she realised it wasn't going to break off until she had exhausted herself. When that came, Coco looked back and smiled at Neo.

"And that is how you get acquainted with your teammate. I'll show you again." She repeated the process, earning an eye roll from Fox. The sight made Neo giggle. "So, your turn Neo. Get introducing." Neo wanted to go straight to Fox, but that was obvious. Instead, she sat by Yatsuhashi.

{" _Hello._ "}

{" _Greetings,_ "} came the signed reply.

{" _My name is Neopolitan._ "}

{" _And I am Yatsuhashi Daichi._ "} The pair gave each other a quick peck on the lips, assuming that was all they needed to do.

"Uh uh uh, Drink!" Yatsuhashi did, Neo looked confused. "Three seconds, at least, for all kisses. Else, drink!" She knocked one back herself. Neo turned back to Yatsuhashi and took a drink, then leaned in again for the kiss. This time, it lasted a little over five seconds before they realised they'd already completed the necessary time quota.

"Enjoy yourself a little there Yatsu?" Velvet teased, her partner still sitting on her lap whilst the tank looked at them.

"I was not going to pull away for fear I may have miscount-"

"AH! Fear; a forbidden emotion! Drink!"

"Well, it happened anyway." He took one, face scrunching up a little as he did. This stuff was stronger than he remembered. That, or running basically on empty for the past few days has made him more susceptible to the effects of alcohol.

~ _I am so glad I can't speak right now, I'd be terrified if she could suss out wh-_ ~

"FEAR!" Fox cried, pointing at Neo. Coco's head snapped to the ice cream girl and she uttered "Drink!" at her. Before she took one, she shot her blind boyfriend a look.

~ _Traitorous cur..._ ~ He winked at her and reached out for a drink of his own.

"No flirting at this stage Fox! Drink!" Clearly, he had remembered from previous times they'd played this how the game worked, so he knew his wink would earn him a drink. Neo moved on to sitting next to Velvet and Coco, as the team leader clearly didn't want to leave the Faunus' company.

{" _Hey._ "}

"Hey there."

"Sup beautiful?" Velvet hit her partner. "Unnecessary violence against a teammate. Drink!"

"Oh, sonofabitch."

"You can take a double for the language."

"And _you_ can take one for the early game flirting."

"That I will." They both took a shot as Neo continued.

{" _My name is Neopolitan._ "}

{" _Mine is Chocolate Apple._ "} Neo chuckled to herself at the poor dexterity skills of a less-than-sober Coco, who somehow managed to sign words that weren't even close to the signs of her name. As the third girl finished her second shot, she coughed as she signed her response.

{" _And my name is Velvet Scarlatina._ "} Neo leaned in to the Faunus and kissed her for the mandated three seconds, then one more for good measure.

"Leave some for me Velvs," the fashionista almost pushed her girlfriend out of the way to start the kiss with Neo, an action that was most definitely earning her a drink once she was done. When they were kissing Neo felt amazing, like she did when her and Fox first kissed each other; there was warmth and feeling and comfort all in the single bit of contact they were making. She wanted this to continue, she really did. But she withdrew after a little while, or was it a long while - she sort of lost track of time. "And now..."

"Ab bab." Velvet cut her sentence short with that remark and a hand in front of Coco's face, being careful not to touch it. "Drink first."

"What'd I do?"

"Unnecessary violence; you literally shoved me out of the way."

"...Fairy nuff." The beret wearer shrugged and took a hit of her open drink. As the two girls kissed (again), Neo made her way over to Fox.

~ _Evening._ ~

~ _Hi._ ~

~ _The name's Fox Alistair._ ~

~ _Mine's Neopolitan._ ~ They both let their lips curl up into a smirk as they leaned in for a kiss. Their bliss was cut by a booming "Drink!" coming from beside them, startling Neo out of the kiss.

{" _Who's drinking Yatsu?_ "} the mute asked.

"Me. I got bored of sitting around. So I called myself out on being bored, and now I am drinking because of it." As he took another bit of Hanazake from his bottle, Coco broke her kiss and leaned backwards to look at him, the Rabbit girl holding her middle to stop her tipping onto her own head.

"You can take two more for the double use of a forbidden word!" Rather than be mad, he let a small chuckle to himself as he raised the bottle and took a doubly large swig.

* * *

**{END OF ACT 3}**


	22. Alone in The Morning

**KEY:**

"Speech"  
_Thought_  
{" _Sign Language_ "}  
_~Thought Talking~_  
**Scroll message**  
_*Scroll call*_

* * *

Pain. Everything was in pain. And by everything she meant her head, but everything else hurt because her head hurt, so... ow, it hurt to smart ass herself. A groan would have passed through mute lips if it wasn't for the fact that it physically couldn't happen as she eased herself up to sitting position and groggily stared around the room.

Yatsuhashi was sleeping on his own bed, but he looked more like he'd fallen there and his body shut off completely the second he hit the mattress. Velvet was lying on the floor by the bathroom door, curled up and hugging her knees close to her chest. She couldn't see Fox or Coco anywhere though. As an urge rose up through her body, Neo decided that letting it pass simply wouldn't do, she needed to heed its call. She staggered her way towards the bathroom, ensuring not to slip on any bottles and cans left around or accidently kick Velvet, and upon opening the door realised why she hadn't seen Coco anywhere in the main room. She was sleeping in here, using the toilet bowl as her own porcelain pillow.

Neo's urge subsided as she didn't feel like waking Coco from her slumber just to relieve her own bladder, though that time may need to come a little later on. Shutting the door as quietly as she could still wasn't quite silent enough for the Faunus, as even the slightest click of the door caused her to moan in discomfort and pull her rabbit ears to her head in an effort to save them from the pain. Neo's Scroll buzzed, and that noise caused even more discomfort for the Faunus. Neo tiptoed around the fallout to her Scroll as fast and as quietly as she could as it buzzed over and over again. Someone was calling her, and she had a sneaking suspicion she knew who it was.

_*Hello? Neo, are you there?*_

Neo smiled, then stopped as it pained to smile. She opened up the video call, then waited as Fox's face appeared on the screen. She closed her eyes and focussed once she saw him.

~ _How else do you think I could do this? And no,_ ~ she pre-empted, ~ _you didn't wake me, my bladder did._ ~

*Good to know,* he deadpanned. Neo wasn't 100% sure if his deadpanning was because he found her "joke" unfunny, or if it was because any emotion other than "End my suffering!" was far beyond access to the five at this point. _*I'm in the common room if you want to come join me. There's no one else here, and there's room for one more at my table.*_

~ _Give me ten._ ~

She shuffled herself away from the bed and went to go and grab a change of clothes from her drawer, only to realise that this wasn't The Cloak Inn. She _needed_ to get her stuff out of there before they threw it away. She had to go like this... but she looked terrible. Looking around for an option, she set her eyes on Velvet's drawers, she was the only one of the team closer to her height. She grabbed a pair of jogging bottoms and a t-shirt from the Faunus' wears, before throwing her own stuff to one side and heading out to the common room.

The large area was completely empty at this time of day - 10:24am, probably one of the latest wake ups Neo had ever had in her life - but that was mostly because of the holidays. Well, completely empty, save for one copper haired boy sitting at a table, back facing the entrance. Neo snuck up on him as best as she could and glomped him in a hug.

~ _Morning pretty boy.~_

"Oh, so you remember calling me that from last night then?" Truth was, she didn't. But it felt right, so she would continue to do so.

~ _Nope. I can't remember shit from last night. But it's true all the same._ ~ She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek, feeling the heat of his blush against her lips. ~ _So, why'd you ask me here stranger?_ ~

"Well, I thought you could use some Hangover Cure Medicine." He held up two spoons and a large tub of Neapolitan Ice Cream. Her dual coloured eyes spoke what her mouth could not, as she leaned towards it as if it beckoned her, eyes sparkling like diamonds, they tubs glowing ethereally in her eyes like holy objects of divine place and purpose. Every time she got close to grabbing it, Fox just pulled it ever so slightly further out of her grasp. Normally, she'd attack if they tried to do that with her, but the ice cream dulled her natural reactions as she remained entranced by its tri coloured glory.

~ _Neo want ice cream,~_ she droned trance-like, still leaning for it despite it being well out of her reach now.

"Sit down properly, and we can have some." She obeyed, moving at speeds even Ruby Rose would seem proud of. Fox calmly, but deliberately slowly, handed Neo a spoon. Then, he slowly peeled away the wrapping around the tub, making sure to take extra care not to miss anything. He popped the lid open and Neo could smell that goodness. Her hand shook as she couldn't contain her excitement; ice cream - especially Neapolitan - was her Achilles heel. Fox offered her the pot so that she could take a scoop, but she basically snatched it out of his hand and cradled it in her arms like a child as she started to take spoonful after spoonful of ice cream. Fox couldn't help but laugh as he took a second pot from under the table and opened that, taking much more care with eating his.

~ _How'd you get some of this?_ ~ she asked, her thoughts clear despite still chewing on the strawberry ice cream that she'd just shovelled into her mouth. Fox could have implemented the luxury they shared of being able to communicate without ever making a sound, but he spoke normally instead, as he didn't have enough ice cream in his mouth that talking became an impossibility.

"Well after our first date, when I took you back to The Cloak. Whilst I was there, I had a look round your 'room'." The emphasis on that word was not lost on her; Cloak Inn living quarters are basically glorified cupboards with beds. "In your freezer, I saw that you had some basic things, and a whole batch of Neapolitan. So I took a couple from there and brought them back here with me, dropped you off in bed, then hid these in our freezer." He scooped a small chocolate spoon of ice cream, raising it like a toast as he finished. "And now, we're here." The dessert slid down his throat with ease.

~ _Thank you._ ~

Fox grinned at the ball Neo had just served him. He felt obligated to hit it, and so he did. "Don't mention it."

~ _...really?_ ~

"You can have your blind jokes for me, I can have my mute jokes for you."

~ _Fine, but only because I like you._ ~

To anyone walking in on them, the pair was sat in silence. But in reality, they were having a long conversation regarding what happened last night, all the things they remembered, the things they didn't, the usual. They opted to keep the conversation in their heads, so that someone didn't walk in and accidentally overhear part of the conversation; all whilst eating spoons of ice cream that calmed their own hangover headaches. The boy found that the chocolate third was best for him, but he had to make sure to space out the chocolate between the strawberry and vanilla so that it wouldn't run out before he was done. Neo, while perfectly happy to shovel as much ice cream as she could manage, always favoured the strawberry before. But now, what with her new life and all, she too was drawn more and more to the chocolate; the brown ice cream reminding her of the team. She still had a hard time believing it; she had a team!

Empty pots rested on the table top as the couple leaned back and relaxed, their hangover headaches basically nullified by the cold and arguably less painful sting of an ice cream headache.

~ _That hit the spot._ ~ Neo sighed.

~ _Krrrtt xxrtr zztttt wkkkkkkkkkk_ ~ Fox replied.

Neo just laughed. ~ _Nope, your brain freeze is still messing with it your end._ ~ It was an interesting factoid they recently discovered: brain freeze made communication from that person so scrambled you needed to learn decoding to even understand it.

Since brain freezes were only temporary, Fox decided that speaking normally would do. "I said, I agree. I didn't know ice cream worked so well as a hangover cure."

~ _It doesn't. I surgically spike all my pots of ice cream with a secret and illegal substance of my own ingenious design that eases the mind and nulls all pain, before violently jerking you to an immobilising stiffness and killing you in an instant. You're under the tranquil spell of the drug; I must say that it was lovely being your girlfriend, but you ate my food, so your death is entirely your fault._ ~ Fox's milky eyes stared at her as she poker faced him in return.

"Then why won't you die as well?"

~ _I won't die because prolonged exposure to my own wonder drug has made me immune to its effects._ ~ Fox's uneasy heart started beating ever faster in worry.

"I cannot tell if you are being serious or not, and that is _very_ concerning to me."

~ _Of course I am being serious. You are going to die for having eaten my food. There was no other alternative._ ~ Fox turned to her and pleaded with her, taking her bait. Beads of sweat dripped from his forehead.

"Please Ni, there has to be a way to stop it. I'm your boyfriend, you can't just kill me like that!"

~ _Tell that to the last guy who ate my food. He was my boyfriend too. I'm pretty sure no one ever found the body._ ~ The terrified "Eep!" that escaped Fox's mouth made the next part all the sweeter - she had never been in a relationship before; she had told him this previously, but in the heat of the moment he'd forgotten. ~ _In fact, I still vividly recall exactly what happened that day._ ~ She got up from her chair and stood right by Fox's, pulling him up to his feet. ~ _I remember walking with him like this to a chair,_ ~ as she said this, her hand dragged Fox to the sofa in the middle of the common room. ~ _He sat down, completely oblivious to what was to come. I sat in front of him like this,_ ~ after she'd made Fox sit on the chair, Neo straddled his legs with her arms wrapped around his waist. Under normal circumstances, Fox would have most likely held Neo back. Now, he was too terrified of his own death to do anything, ~ _and I whispered something in his ear... like this._ ~ She leaned in to speak a little quieter in his ear, and he still fell for it. He was hooked on the story so much that the payoff would be so perfect. ~ _And then, it happened. He was dead, just like that._ ~ She snapped her fingers near his head causing him to jump a little at the sound. ~ _I remember the sound of his scream too..._ ~ Her hands moved into position at her boyfriend's side. ~ _It sounded... like this!_ ~

And with that she started her assault.

Her fingers flew into his sides as she started tickling him underneath his ribs. His laugh echoed through the halls like a scream. In a fruitless effort to escape he tried backing away, but realised all too late that he was sitting on the sofa and therefore had no means of escape at all. Instead, all that did was make him fall backwards exposing more area for Neo to attack, an opportunity she did not pass up. She focused under his arms, the sensation causing a natural reaction in the boy that pulled his arms to his sides trapping her hands underneath.

"I... you... pay for... this!" he managed through laughs.

~ _Oh really, and how's th-_ ~ her sentence was cut short as she felt a pair of hands reaching to her own ribcage. She hunched over at the sensation, freeing Fox from his torment and allowing him to extract revenge. She squirmed as she tried to free herself from the tickles, but it was no use. She fell backwards off the chair and onto the floor, her boyfriend following her down, his offense still pushing forward. The smile plastered over her face couldn't hope to be rivalled as she curled up into a ball hugging her sides in a last ditch effort to save herself.

"What do you have to say now?"

~ _I submi... I'm sorry, pl-please... just... stop..._ ~ her thoughts were a mess, as her mind was otherwise occupied.

"You promise you won't do that again?" he retracted slightly, letting her have a moment of peace to call an end to the war.

~ _Well..._ ~

"That wasn't definitive." He reached in and started tickling her sides once again.

~ _IPROMISEIWON'TDOTHATEVERAGAINJUSTPLEASESTOPTICKLINGME!_ ~ The speed at which her thoughts came threw Fox off, but he accepted her terms of surrender and relented. He let out a giggle as he lay down beside her on the floor, his arms wrapping around her in a hug. The action released her tightly wound coil as she opened up and returned the hug. ~ _I'm sorry._ ~ She looked a little bit ashamed at her actions. ~ _I remembered you were a little ticklish from our not-first date and I wanted to use that for something light-hearted. I'm sorry._ ~ His reply first came with a gentle kiss to her forehead; there was no malice or disappointment, there was no grudge held.

"Don't apologise. I think it's nice though that you remembered, but we are Never. Doing it. Again."

~ _Fine._ ~

"So Neo, what was the plan for today?"

~ _Well, you said that CAME Games tended to be two day things, but the second day was mostly there for recovering from the first, right?_ ~

"Yeah, that's usually how it's worked before."

~ _That means that those three probably aren't leaving the dorm today._ ~

"Yeah... where are you going with this?"

~ _Back to The Cloak. If they're not leaving, then I can shoot off back to The Cloak and get Coco's dress sorted out._ ~

"That's actually not a bad shout. I'll come with you."

~ _Um... how good are you with materials and sewing and all that? Considering the fact that you're blind and all, I was wondering._ ~

"Oh no, I won't be there to help you. But if you think you're going back there to sit in that room all alone you've got another thing coming. I'm going with you." A sudden brainwave brought a smile to scarred lips. "And I'll bring the book with me. I can read on the 'bed' so you'll be able to hear me whilst you go along and do your thing." Now the corner of Neo's lips cracked up with a smile.

~ _I love the way you think Fox._ ~

~ _Is that all?_ ~

~ _Comms are back,_ ~ she joked.

~ _Glad to hear it._ ~ It was becoming almost natural now for Fox to swap to his head voice whenever he was speaking to Neo about things like this. It meant he could be as truthful as he wanted and the only way people would know what was being said was based off reactions from either of them. ~ _Because I can't think of good things all the time, you got lucky that one was decent. Some of my thoughts are also a little bit dirtier than that as well, you love those too?_ ~

~ _As much as I love you, yeah._ ~ She closed the gap between them and planted a kiss on his lips. They held there for a couple of seconds before breaking off and looking at one another. The glow of Neo's Aura in Fox's eyes was nearly blinding, but he had grown used to it. In fact, he was glad it was so bright - years of figurative darkness meant he wanted to latch onto any source of light he could find, and he nabbed the jackpot with her.

"Did you manage to find some spare clothes?"

~ _I did, yeah. But these are Velvet's._ ~

"I figured. I take it you've got spare clothes back at The Cloak Inn?"

~ _Those, I do have.~_

"Well then, give me about fifteen minutes to get ready and we can head there now."


	23. A Story Cloaked Inn Darkness

They were a few streets down from the Inn when Fox's Scroll pinged a unique ping in his pocket. Coco. He took the Scroll out and let the text-to-voice functionality installed on his Scroll do its work.

**Coco:  
** _**Where are you and Neo at? We have just woken up.** _

Fox spoke his reply to the Scroll.

**Fox:  
_We've headed out for the day. Hangover gone. See you this evening._**

He put it away, thinking that would be the end of the conversation. It wasn't; no more than a minute later his Scroll pinged again.

**Coco:  
_How can you be up this early and your hangovers already gone?!_**

_**Lucky bastards** _

Fox blankly looked at his screen, hoping by some miracle his sight would return to help him see the words she'd sent him.

 _Does she even know what time it is?_ he thought to himself. _Do I?_ Before he got a chance to open his mouth and ask, a reply came through in the form of Neo.

~ _It's 18 minutes past noon._ ~ How did she... oh, right...

"Thanks hun." That was the first time since their not-first date that he'd forgotten they shared a link and could hear each other's thoughts.

~ _Don't mention it_.~ Her response was punctuated with a playful little nudge. The boy smirked at his petite friend.

"We'll see." He nudged her back, then caught her hand and she returned.

They walked into The Cloak Inn still hand-in-hand, but the moment Neo saw and heard the Innkeeper talking about "clearing room seventeen" - the room she'd been staying in - she let go.

~ _Fox, they're going to gut my room! Can you-_ ~

"Sure." They were so in sync with one another at the moment that she didn't need to finish; he felt her panic and stress, something that was mirrored in her inner voice. He marched up to the front desk and called to the man in charge.

"What's going on here?"

"I'm clearing out Room 17. Occupant's not been there in three days. Policy's policy - stuff's going straight to the dump."

"Well 'The Occupant' is right here. We were just going in there."

"Oh were you? Well tough luck, it's no longer hers. As such, anything that's in there that doesn't belong to The Inn is getting thrown away." Fox heard the shuffling behind this voice stop, the guys who were going to be doing all the heavy lifting were now backing their boss up.

"We are going to be going in there. We will pay for the room for one day, 24 hours. In that time, we will have finished what we were going to do, removed everything that is my girlfriend's from the room, and leave here in peace." He heard a couple of muffled giggles from the men behind the desk. "We don't want trouble," he stated.

"Don't you? What a coincidence, because I wasn't looking for trouble. Until a certain _girl_ came into my establishment." He eyeballed the person he was speaking about and her eyes started shifting from Heterochromatic to an off-white hue. But not through fear. Through sheer unadulterated rage. "I've had question after questionable question from shady people regarding this person, and I've kept their mitts off my customers. But that doesn't stop me getting my own hands dirty. I have connections. I looked you up," his attention shifted completely to the woman standing furthest away from the desk, "according to all official records, you're dead! Which is perfect, 'cause I haven't got anything against killing something that's already been dead once." One of the men made his way round the desk and started heading towards Neo. Fox stepped between the two, halting his movement.

~ _I can handle him myself, y'know,_ ~ Neo defended, fists clenched ready for a fight.

~ _And yet I'd rather you didn't. I know you're capable, but I think provoking you is giving them what they want. Attack them **if** they get close enough to do so. I'll give-_~ His little talk with Neo was interrupted by an aggressive shove from the person blocked by Fox.

"I said, move it boy!" Blind eyes stared right at the man. He burst his Aura outwards to get a better feel for his opponents. Whilst they were all physically strong, some - like the Innkeeper - stronger than they'd lead you to believe, they were all just men. None of them had significantly large Aura's, with the exception of the guy standing in front of him; even that wasn't anything to write home about. They were regular men, which meant they were weak. Which means that Fox didn't have to try.

"How much for 24 hours?"

"You aren't staying here."

"What is the price for 24 hours?"

"Get him!" Fox ducked under a very easily avoidable left hook from the Aura guy and practically skipped away from the kick that followed.

"Really? Nothing for 24 hour rates?" The left-right swings were broadcast so loud even Fox could see them coming. He made slight adjustments to his posture in order to dodge them as, in comparison to fights he'd had previously, these punches were sluggishly slow. "Okay then, how about until the end of the day? That's less than 12 hours, but you can charge me for 12 hours I don't mind."

"Would you _stop_ talking and fight for real?" The invitation he'd been waiting for. Fox let the next punch skim his face slightly, but as it did he reached his arm out to grab it and stop the person attached from moving.

"Okay." With a quick thrust of his arm he struck a palm into the man's lower chest, knocking the air out of him whilst also sending him flying across the room. The few patrons sitting around got up and fled with haste as the man came to a crashing halt by the table they were just sitting at. The sound the man made was very odd, almost like the air was being let out of one of those duck toys.

"You've done it now. Take them out." Fox's face screamed disappointment and confusion, did they not see how this had just played out? But, if they were insistent...

"So do you not charge for 12 hours either? That's a bit disappointing." The student was talking all throughout the time that the men from The Inn were trying to hit him, and the sight honestly entertained Neo - normal people would realise that they have no chance against a Huntsman, unless they get really lucky. These people had no such luck, so the fight was over before it even started, it was just how each person was going to bow out at the end was the only difference. "Tell you what," the boy continued, kicking one of the men in the side and sending him careening into a nearby wall, "what if we just stay until, what do you think Ni - 9 o'clock? You be done by then?" She nodded for the benefit of the idiots, but answered in her head for the one who really needed the answer. With a smirk he continued, but not before using the momentum of an attacker to swing the guy round and throw him into two of the remaining three other people there, dazing them all. "Yeah, 9:00pm. We have the room for the next 8 and a bit hours to finish what we needed to finish, then we shall leave here by 9:00pm and we won't return."

"You can take the last part of that offer and just not return again!" the Innkeeper shouted as he went for the boy. The man was taller - not by much though - and clearly saw himself as imposing. But in all honesty, the first guy that was taken out was clearly the best shot they had at taking him down, and that had failed miserably. This would be no exception. He dashed at Fox, who just back flipped onto a nearby table with his arms crossed.

"Final offer, I'm not wavering: 9 hours is all we're asking for."

"You're getting nothing!" The copper haired boy sighed, then shot a glance up at his girlfriend.

"Just as I thought; brain's been knocked out of whack. Let me help with that." In a move faster than the normal eye could see, Fox hit the Innkeeper with such force that he shot right back behind his desk and into the seat that was there. The bigger man now sat there with an expression that was on the way to surprise and horror, but with him being basically knocked out it stopped partway through the change. A soft constant squeak came from the man as Fox walked over, indicative of him not being completely gone. "Now, can we go up to our room now?"

"Uh huh..." he wheezed.

"And you won't disturb us?"

"Nuh uh..." was the reply.

"Perfect! We shall be out of your hair by 9:00pm tonight. I'll leave you be now." Neo skipped over to Fox and linked her arm with his as they made their way up to Room 17, leaving the groaning bodies of the student's attackers lying about on the floor.

* * *

~ _That was fun! Can we do that again some time?_ ~

"What? Me taking on a bunch of men whilst you sit on the side lines and watch?"

~ _If you didn't like what I did to you, then I'll join in next time; but yes, that._ ~ Neo unlocked the door to Room 17 and walked in, Fox joining her soon after and shutting the door behind him.

"It depends how I'm feeling if the situation presents itself again."

~ _Besides,_ ~ she mentioned with a teasing smirk, ~ _I loved watching you throw someone to the ground._ ~ As she finished the sentence she sat down on the floor, grabbing her sewing equipment from the side of the room and pulling it closer.

"Watch yourself Ni, else you might be on the receiving end of that throw."

~ _Oh I hope I am._ ~ The blind boy shook his head in mock disappointment, failing to keep his smile under wraps as he did so. The smile faded and shifted to a look of discomfort as he sat upon the poorest excuse of a mattress he'd ever felt.

"...You're not even subtle."

~ _Fox, have you-_ ~ "Seen me?" was going to be how she finished that sentence but before the words even managed to cross her mind she remembered that Fox genuinely hadn't seen her. Ever. At least, not properly. Her alternative felt much better and wasn't playing on the sight thing again. ~ _-even been paying attention to your girlfriend recently? I am not a subtle person._ ~ Rolling his milky eyes, the boy rummaged through the bag he brought with him to find the book - it didn't take long.

"Now I know you dosed off when we read this last time, so I'm going to start that chapter again. Sound good?" Once she had the needle holding the colour of thread she was going to use, Neo looked at Fox and smiled.

~ _Yeah, let's do this._ ~

~ _Right._ ~ Fox flicked through the pages until he found the ones with the latest bit of familiar numbering in the corner. From there he traced upwards on the page until he felt the texture of the title against his fingertips. Once he knew he was in the right place, he began. ~ _'Chapter 20: Xenophilius Lovegood_

 _Harry had not expected Hermione's anger to abate over night and was therefore unsurprised that she communicated mainly by dirty looks and pointed silences the next morning. Ron responded by maintaining an unnaturally sombre demeanour in her presence as an outward sign of continuing remorse. In fact, when all three of them were together Harry felt like the only non-mourner at a poorly attended funeral. During those few moments he spent alone with Harry, however (collecting water and searching the undergrowth for mushrooms), Ron became shamelessly cheery.'_ ~

Both people happily went about their way that afternoon. Neo's hands moved as they needed to - stitching material together, sewing in pockets, hemming and the like - whilst Fox spoke the words he felt on the page. He could read braille fairly quickly if he wanted to, no slower than it took someone with perfectly normal sight to read average words, but a lot of the time he chose not to and instead let the words have their own time to make an impact. He was like that before Neo showed up with his previous book; he could have finished it in a week or two due to classes and all that, but instead he dragged it out for over two months because of his desire to let what was being said stick more. Of course, when she threatened to spoil the story as a means of bribery he couldn't idly make his way along the story anymore, appreciating the words scribed, and he instead shot through the remaining pages as he would any other braille book he owned.

When twists and turns came in the book, Neo reacted appropriately. It wasn't just background noise, she was still listening to every word that Fox's inner voice spoke to her. Many people across Remnant had Audio Stories. Their reasons for such varied from "I prefer it to reading the words", to "I'm visually impaired, this is just easier," to the "When I'm working, I can still have the story read to me," excuse. Upon consideration, the ice cream girl determined that this was almost like her own private Audiobook. Unless a drastic change happened in her boyfriend's life, Fox wasn't going to be reading to anyone else - especially with the intimacy that she and he had now; no one else would get the words spoken straight into their heads like she did.

It was a privilege she cherished.

5:40pm rolled around faster than either of them realised. Neo was practically done with the dress, just a few more bits and pieces to be finished. Fox was wrapping up the book at the same time, a few sentences to go.

~ _'The last trace of steam evaporated in the autumn air. The train rounded a corner. Harry's hand was still raised in farewell._

_"He'll be alright," murmured Ginny._

_As Harry looked at her, he lowered his hand absentmindedly and touched the lightning scar on his forehead._

_"I know he will."_

_The scar had not pained Harry for nineteen years. All was well.'_ ~ The book shut with a heavy thud. "The end."

~ _Wow, that's how you end a series._ ~ She wiped away a tear that had escaped from her natural pink eye at the realisation that the series was over.

"I _know!_ I just hope that the stories all get immortalised forever somehow, I think they're too good to let them disappear into the aether." Neo noted that Fox really had a way with word when he wanted to. With one final pull of the thread, the dress was complete.

~ _There, Coco's dress is done._ ~ A quick glance at the clock made her smile as it showed her the time, ~ _and with plenty of time to spare as well._ ~ She made her way to her boyfriend and sat on his lap, arms draping round his shoulders as she leaned in and tenderly kissed him, the boy returning the gesture. ~ _So how are we going to spend the last bit of time we have in here?_ ~ There was no denying what she was hinting at, but Fox was unsure of how he personally felt about the situation.

"Ni, I..." The way he spoke to her was not lost on the woman - she had hidden her feelings as best she could before meeting Team CFVY and Fox, and she'd also grown quite good (if she did say so herself) at reading Fox's emotions. She heard and felt the uncertainty in his voice. Her initial response was a simple hug.

~ _Don't fret Fox. I'm sorry, I know that I move fast when it comes to that sort of thing, so feel free to take your time deciding when you're ready. I'm not going to push, remember?_ ~ Fox starting laughing. ~ _What is it this time?_ ~ He started recounting the thing he mocked her with earlier that week.

"I'll stab a bitch if I get paid to-" Neo grabbed the boy by the collar of his vest with both hands, her grip tight.

~ _Utter one more word and I won't hesitate to punch you. I don't care if you're my boyfriend._ ~

"You don't?" Fox pretended to be hurt at the statement. "Well then, I'll make you care!"

~ _And how exact-_ ~

There was no time wasted as Fox pressed his lips against Neo's much more forceful than the last time. The nature behind and the suddenness of the kiss actually shocked her, but that shock subsided after a second or two. The kiss lasted much longer than any other one they'd consciously started, as they had to draw themselves apart to breathe. But they didn't lean away far, they stayed as close to one another as they could. Neo felt a tongue pressing against her lips as they kissed, and she accepted the invitation and parted her lips to allow her tongue to meet his. They'd made their way onto the bed now, the metal frame creaking as its shoddy support was called into question. As this happened, Neo found herself fiddling with the zip of Fox's vest. Realising, she stopped.

"Shy?" he mocked as he drew breath. He made the first move and removed his vest completely as they continued making out, leaving his scarred chest completely exposed. She was already a little flustered, but seeing her boyfriend shirtless brought the blood flooding to her cheeks in a very strong and noticeable blush. Honestly, she was a little confused as to why - she'd seen plenty of people naked, why was this any different? Well it wasn't a completely new feeling, she'd felt it once before with...

The Arctic Fox Faunus.

Neo felt a level of intimacy that she only felt with the Faunus from the café before, a feeling of wanting something special in the moment rather than something fleeting. She didn't want this to be like it was with anyone else. Fox deserved more than that.

Feeling like it was only fair, Neo undid the button and slipped her own jacket off, leaving her in just the borrowed t-shirt.

"So we're here again..." Fox teased, breaking the making out as staring into her dual coloured eyes.

~ _We are._ ~ She looked a little worried. ~ _Do you... want to go further?_ ~

"Not by much right now, but we can do that in the future - there's plenty of time for it."

~ _I'm all yours pretty boy,_ ~ she smirked.

"Are you trying to get me worked up even more?" he asked resting his forehead on her own. "Because it's working." He grabbed the bottom of the t-shirt and lifted it off. She was sat there now in a plain dark bra, smiling at his previous comment.

~ _Is it now?_ ~ She peppered his cheeks with kisses as he continued. The closer he got to undoing the item of clothing, the lower she kissed until she was kissing his collarbone. As the bra was completely removed, Neo hugged Fox tighter. She backed off after a few seconds, now sitting there with her chest completely exposed. As much as she loved how freeing this was and how much fun they could have now, Neo had never felt so oddly disappointed at being in this state of undress.

"Neo? What's wrong?" Fox could tell her mood had suddenly shifted. She looked at him hesitantly, but seeing the genuine concern for her on his face pulled the corners of her lips up slightly into a grin for a few fleeting moments before they rested back in their normal position.

~ _It's just... You can't see me..._ ~

"Neo you know full well that hasn't stopped me before."

~ _I know but..._ ~ she looked away, embarrassed. ~ _You can't see me and I feel like something's missing because of that. It's... I'm not sure._ ~ Fox's answer was another hug.

"I understand how you feel. There have been so many times in my life where I've hoped for even a brief moment that I could see what everyone else saw and experience things like that." He broke the hug to look at Neo again, his milky white eyes causing her to flinch slightly. "I know it will never happen. But I have accepted that, as much as I know I will miss so many beautiful things." He never explicitly stated it, but the way he ran his hand along Neo's cheek and brushed away a stray hair or two gave her all the indication she needed to understand that was his way of saying that he thought she was beautiful. "And besides... I don't need to see 'em if I can feel 'em." He hugged her tight once again, feeling her breasts against his own chest.

~ _Well, as much as I'd like to invite you to have a play, the mood has kind of gone for me._ ~ She wanted to tell him how she knows that it was her fault that the mood had gone, but that didn't feel right for her to outright mention it. She opted instead for implied blame as she uttered a quiet mental ~ _I'm sorry._ ~

"Neo, it's fine." After a quick forehead kiss, the boy mentioned how not only was this as far as he actually wanted to go today due to his uncertainty about the entire thing, he also didn't feel like here and now was the best place for them to do that anyway. Hearing that reasoning Neo agreed.

~ _If you'll excuse me Fox, I might as well start packing up. I needed to change out of everything anyway._ ~ In a small moment, there was the tiniest flicker of passion still in Neo. Capitalising on it, she mentioned to her boyfriend. ~ _You're welcome to help if you want._ ~ There was no hurry to answer on his part, so the mute took the silence as a no. She rose from the bed and wandered over to her drawers on the other side of the room. She slipped Velvet's jogging bottoms off throwing them onto the t-shirt from the Faunus, then searched through her stuff for some casual clothes for her to wear back to Beacon.

"Y'know just because I can't 'see' you," he said walking up behind her, "doesn't mean I can't see you through your Aura and that I can't appreciate you in your fullest. Example, you have a great bum." He punctuated the statement, which Neo was pretty sure was a compliment, was his hand grabbing hold of a cheek with a quick and gentle pinch, causing the woman to jump slightly, her eyes flashing ivory ever so briefly. Yup, definitely a compliment.

~ _Fox!_ ~ she replied, startled at the unexpected contact but not exactly complaining. ~ _A little warning next time?_ ~

"Of course... I'm still right though."

~ _Not denying that, I do have a great bum. Great rack too, for someone my size._ ~ She turned to Fox and leaned into his chest, still exposed from earlier. Without warning, she reached round and grabbed his bum, getting a much firmer and longer grip on it than him earlier. He jumped. ~ _You have a great bum too._ ~ Fox smiled and reached round again, holding hers as she was holding his.

"Well, I try my best. Squats."

~ _Nah, you can try and play it down all you like, this is an amazing natural ass and it is nothing to be ashamed of. Just like mine. A lot of girls would be jealous of a behind like yours._ ~

"And guy would be jealous that someone like me could have someone with a behind like yours." Neo grinned.

~ _You're so nice to me, you know that?_ ~ There wasn't any sarcasm in how she thought that, it was genuine.

"Why would I be anything less?" He released his hold on her bum to hug her waist, and she did the same. They swayed from side to side gently, losing themselves in each other's arms. After a while, Neo's thoughts broke their silence.

~ _I still need to get changed though._ ~

"Sorry. I'll grab the rest of your things."

After 20 minutes of getting changed and collecting what needed to be collected, the two people left the room and The Cloak Inn promptly, returning the keys and also leaving some extra Lien on the desk as they left - Fox felt that it was the least they could do for him beating them all up and severely knocking their egos down a large number of rungs. They had everything of Neo's in tow; all her clothes, plus Coco's new dress, were packed in a single suitcase, other odds and sods were in a small bag she carried around her shoulder. Velvet's spare clothes were in Fox's bag, as was the book and the remainder of the all-important ice cream. The rest of the food stayed there, it wasn't out of date at all so the next people could have a little something when they got there. To save them the trouble of hauling everything back, Fox called his locker to them and they loaded it with everything they could - all that remained was Fox's rucksack, but Neo was more than happy to have that on his person rather than in the locker.

~ _D'you think it'll take us long to get back?_ ~

"Well, it took us an hour to get here so I'd say about 70 minutes to get back, considering it is mostly uphill."

~ _Ugh_ ,~ she groaned, her shoulders making the movements whilst the sounds never came. ~ _Look, no offence Fox, but I'm completely walked out for today._ ~

"You lazy, lazy person. Unfortunately for you, there's no airships heading up to Beacon at the moment, so walking is your only option." An idea came to his head as he looked at the metal container standing beside him. "Well... the only _safe_ option that is."

* * *

Coco, Yatsuhashi and Velvet all wondered about exhausted. They'd stirred from their slumber a little over 6 hours ago but they still all felt really tired, so they opted to stay in their dorm, clean up the mess and talk about last night trying to piece everything together. It was working rather well, but there were holes missing that Fox and/or Neo may have been able to fill in had they stayed there. After 4 hours of lying around and talking, Coco felt really off and wanted to walk. So that's what they did, they just kept walking and walking, chatting away as they did. And here they were at 6:29pm, still chatting and walking. They were exhausted from it, but that was the point - walk until you were too tired to do anything else, then make your way back to the dorm and collapse for a good long night's sleep.

"I wonder where the lovebirds are?" Coco thought aloud. Velvet heard Neo leave, but she was too busy nurturing the headache she had that she didn't remain focussed on the door clicking shut for too long, it was too loud for her ears at the time. And she didn't hear Fox come back in and stay for very long - she thinks he just grabbed a change of clothes and some other things then left again. Yatsuhashi was in a deep sleep throughout all of that and Coco's porcelain pillow grew less and less comfortable as she came round. So in actuality, the last person to see them was... whoever of the three passed out last. The only contact they'd had with them was Coco's message to Fox.

"They are probably enjoying the day," Yatsuhashi commented, "perhaps it is wise to leave them be."

"I'm with Yatsu here Coco; although I see your point, they've been gone all day, they will be back." Coco was still a little cranky from yesterday's CAME Games, so she inadvertently snapped back at her girlfriend.

"I can't say for certain. That's why I need to know." Velvet jumped and let out a small cry of fright, the sound bringing the gunner of CFVYN back to reality. "Sorry Velv."

"That's alright. You can always track his Scroll," the Faunus replied, answering her partner's previous comment.

"Good shout hun." The smaller girl blushed as her girlfriend reached for Scroll in her pocket and opened up Team Tracker. "Haven't needed to use this in a while." After an eternity to update, the new UI of the app threw the leader off a bit. "Um..."

"Try this." Yatsuhashi, despite being very traditional in terms of weaponry and style, still knew how to work his way around technology. He handed back the Scroll once he'd inputted a few details.

"There he is; he's still by The Cloak Inn... wait, no he's coming this way now... really fast... abnormally fast." The two others looked at the Scroll and saw that Coco was right, Fox was basically flying towards them at speeds faster than an airship. Their fixation on the screen broke when a message from Fox came through.

**Fox:  
_Neo asks if any of you've ever seen of "Dr Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb"?_**

"What?" Coco spoke in unison with Yatsuhashi, the pair clearly not understanding their newest teammate's reference.

"Tell him that I have."

"...Okay."

**Coco:  
_Velvet has._** _**Why?** _

The response raised more questions that the original question.

**Fox:  
_Look up and listen_**

"What is he on about?" Before anyone else had a chance to answer, Velvet picked up on faint hollering from afar. She glanced around at her eye level, then followed the instructions from her teammate. A gasp escaped her lips as she heard the cry from earlier a lot clearer.

"Waaahooo!" Coco and Yatsuhashi heard it as well and looked where Velvet was looking. The towering student's mouth dropped open, and the only thing that could rationalise the fashionista's thoughts were two simple words:

"Holy _shit!_ "

Up in the sky were Fox and Neo riding a locker across the grounds of Beacon as if it were a tamed beast, the boy screaming in pure joy all the while. They flew past their teammates as the locker arched downwards fairly heavily, throwing the pair of them off. They had expected that to happen, so as they were flung off Neo grabbed Fox and opened her parasol, letting them float a little slower to the ground. For what looked like an ordinary bladed parasol, it could hold a lot of weight. Metal narrowly missed concrete - not that it really mattered - and instead crashed into a patch of grass near the main building and two students eased their way down next to it. The three members of CFVYN jogged up to the locker as their friends touched down.

"That was so much fun!" Fox panted, his messy hair now messier because of the wind sweeping it behind him. "You have _got_ to try that at some point guys."

The team leader raised both of her hands in front of her as she refused the offer. "No thanks, I choose life."

Rabbit ears folded down slightly as she answered. "Yeah, me neither."

"I'd like to try." Everyone turned to Yatsuhashi, who people thought would be the one person to outright refuse. "...but I don't think it would be a save idea so I shall refuse." That was more like it. "Besides, I think, I'm taller than the locker."

~ _Fox, they're no fun!_ ~ Neo moaned almost petulantly, stamping her foot, crossing her arms and pouting slightly, a sight that caused Fox to chuckle.

"What'd she say?"

"She said that you're no fun."

"Well excuse us Neo, but you were having a lot of fun last night with us. Were we fun then?" Coco's tone was accusatory, making the woman feel much smaller than she already was. The pout dropped and for once she looked a little shy, almost like a child as she nodded at the remark. "I'm just kidding you little psycho." The fashionista broke her ruse and walked up to Neo, embracing her in a friendly hug. "We are fun, as last night proved. Sometimes though, we like to take things slow. That cool with you?" A small smirk made its way onto Neo's face as she looked into the sunglasses of her friend and team leader. In a move no one but her was expecting, she jumped up and started kissing Coco. The sounds made by the three people observing varied by all had the general sound of shock in there, especially Velvet.

Neo parted lips and smiled at Coco, who struggled to find words to say. Eventually they did come, and they weren't too pleasant. "...Um... mind explaining before either myself or my very ticked off looking girlfriend tears you apart?" Neo thought fast and signed her excuse.

{" _The Parchment of Volentes. I think it's realising that Fox and I are taking too long or something, so it needed to find a new outlet, and you were there and..._ "} Coco looked at her as if Neo thought she could play her for a fool. {" _Because I wanted to kiss you,_ "} she admitted.  _This is so embarrassing._

~ _You dug this hole for yourself,_ ~ Fox mentioned to her, having heard her thoughts, ~ _either dig your way out, or I can hand you the shovel and you can keep digging._ ~

{" _You're attractive. You all are. I wanted to kiss you, that's why. That's all._ "}

"Well, in future, don't. You've got someone, and I've got someone. As does Fox and Velvet. And all Yatsuhashi would need to do to avoid anything like that from you was to stand up. We like you Neo and welcome you to the team, but don't do that again." Coco turned and headed back to the dorm, Yatsuhashi following her and Velvet bringing up the rear but not before shooting Neo a very harsh look.

"Neo." She stared at her boyfriend. ~ _Want to explain the real reason?_ ~

~ _To get it out of my system. I still find her really attractive and I wanted to get that out of the way. I don't want to think about her anymore, the way I think about you._ ~ Shame flooded every sound that rang through Fox's head. He had a thought to cheer her up.

"Do you trust me?"

~ _What? Of course I do, that's a stupid question!_ ~

"Then give me a minute, okay? I'll sort it out." He went to catch up with the rest of his team leaving Neo by the locker. "Coco!" Upon hearing her name, the girl spun round.

"What up, Fox?" She sounded bored, as if she had already heard the excuse Fox was about to say.

"She said that she is sorry. I know she could have said that herself, but she'd rather let you _hear_ someone say it rather than see it. She acknowledges our relationships, but sometimes she..." ~ _Do you want me to say?_ ~ he asked, knowing full well she was listening in.

~ _Okay._ ~

"Sometimes she acts on pure instinctive muscle memory. She finds us all attractive, and when she was out doing her thing before coming here, if there was someone like that around she'd go: kiss, sex, gone. That's been part of her routine, her life for the past..."

~ _Seven years._ ~

~ _Really?! Wow._ ~ "...seven years of her life. Kicking a habit like that is going to be hard. She's promised she'll refrain, but she did want to say before she stopped that you have a fantastic bum Coco." Eyes widened behind reflective glass as the words registered in Coco's head. Before he knew it, Neo had teleported behind him and was clasping her hands tight over Fox's mouth to stop him talking, cursing his very existence and calling him a traitor and the like. They struggled a little before they were interrupted by Coco erupting in a fit of laughter.

"Fox," Velvet stage whispered with an enormous amount of dread, "you broke Coco." They all looked at the gunner in various high-level stages of panic at the sheer amount of laughing she was doing.

"Coco... do you... not believe Neo?"

"I believe you Neo, I really do." She managed through slowly receding giggles. "I'm sorry for what your life had been before us. I'm sorry I was harsh with you, but my point still stands. Even so, I can't believe you did that - you kissed me! Not only that; but you kissed me out in the open, without a seconds hesitation, in front of not only my team but my long-term _girlfriend!_ You're crazy!" Neo blushed at the backhanded compliment. "You have guts, but you're still crazy; anyone else wouldn't have ever _dreamed_ of doing that! I'm glad we have you on Team CFVYN, you got to be a little crazy to join the ranks."

"Hey, why am I crazy?" Velvet protested.

"You run into battle with a box and a camera that uses Hard Light Dust to create copies of other people's weapons you have taken photographs of. Then you use your semblance - basically a magical power people with their Aura unlocked have access to - to mimic the fighting style of the person whose weapon you've photographed to use it to its maximum efficiency. Even the sentences explaining it sounds crazy." Her usual attitude had returned, as did her sense of humour. "You're crazy tall, you're crazy blind, I'm crazy good looking, and now we have someone who is genuinely crazy!" She started laughing to herself at her own joke, but was picked up off the ground by Yatsuhashi and thrown over his shoulder in a fireman's carry. "Yatsu, put me down, now!"

"Nope. I'm crazy tall, so the fall might kill you."

"Ha ha, put me down." As she looked over her shoulder at her friend carrying her, Neo started signing to Coco. The fashionista lowered her sunglasses to get a better look, but to no avail. "Fox, what's she saying?"

"I dunno. I'm crazy blind, so I can't see what she's doing."

"Well, why don't you ask her?"

"I tried, but she's just talking crazy at me."

"Okay, not funny anymore. You too Yatsu, put me down!"

"Not until we get to the dorm." He headed off.

"Hey Yatsu!" Fox called, earning his teammate's attention. He pointed at Neo, making sure he knew who it was wanted his attention.

Neo waited until he was facing her completely so that Coco couldn't see before signing a message to him. {" _Take a while, Fox and I need to get back first. It's for Coco._ "} His answer was a nod, and his walk became very slow. ~ _Shall we get my stuff to the dorm?_ ~

"Yes, let's do that."


	24. Mates' Reveal

Real quick, a huge shout out and credit to " **| OmegaInfinity |** " over on Fanfiction.net for the idea of Mates Marks in their incredible story: [Linked in Life and Love](https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11689623/1/Linked-in-Life-and-Love). I claim no ownership of the idea; go and read the story that inspired my choice.

* * *

Finally being set down after about 25 minutes on Yatsuhashi's shoulder, Coco stretched her back and moaned slightly as it cracked and popped, making Velvet's ears flick in intrigue at the sound.

"Was there really any need for that Yatsu? I can walk perfectly fine by myself." She decided to demonstrate her ability to walk, only for her leg to fall asleep under her and make her tumble to the ground in a manner most ungraceful. "Oh come on." She glanced up at her two teammates embarrassed. "You know full well that was because you were carrying me."

"Of course it was babe," Velvet replied, extending her hand out to help her girlfriend up and to steady her short walk down the corridor back to the dorm. Reluctantly she took it and they started making their way back to the dorm. As they rounded the corner, Fox was stood outside waiting for them.

"Oh, hey Fox. What're you doing on guard duty?"

"Precisely that; I'm on guard duty. And I've been given strict instructions by Neo that only Coco may enter at the moment."

"I do not understand Fox, this is our dorm as well."

"I know Yatsu, but I think she's got something special planned; I'm not too sure." Fox was lying, and Yatsuhashi knew that. Why else would they have wanted to get back before them? "All I was told is that Coco could enter, but no one else." The team leader looked at her friends, then shrugged.

"Well, if I'm getting some sort of special treatment then I don't want to pass the opportunity up." She wormed her way out of her partner's embrace and walked to the door, still a little wobbly from sleepy legs. Before she entered she leaned to Fox and whispered in his ear. "But she _does_ realise that putting a sock on the door is a lot more subtle than having someone on guard duty."

"Coco!" he hushed back, knowing full well that Velvet heard all of that. "What about the whole 'Don't do that again' thing?" All she did was turn towards her partner and shot her a reassuring smile that the Faunus returned.

"I'll be fine. Velvet trusts me not to do anything stupid."

"Do I now?" Coco winked at her partner, walked past the boy on guard and went into the dorm, shutting the door behind her.

"Now, mind telling _us_ what's going on?"

"Sure. We'll walk and talk." Yatsuhashi, whilst not opposed to the idea of more walking under normal circumstances, had just about worn himself out from doing nothing all morning and only actually getting up around 3 or so hours ago.

"Must we walk Fox? We are tired."

"I'm sure you both are, but it won't be a long walk I promise. We just need to find someone."

"And is that 'Someone' a person we know?" the Faunus inquired.

"All will be revealed. Now come on, I don't want the surprise ruined for anyone." He walked down the hall, prompting the other two to follow but not before glancing at each other with a look of "What is he doing?" on their faces. The blind boy started to explain almost everything - he couldn't exactly say what she was in there, or else Velvet's surprise would be ruined too. But as they rounded the corner to head down the next corridor, rabbit ears pricked up at the sound of what she thought was her girlfriend squealing in delight.

**~000~**

20 minutes later, Fox returned to the dorm with Velvet and Yatsuhashi, but also with Yang and Blake as well. Ruby and Weiss were elsewhere, and Fox was right in thinking that Blake would have been in their team dorm at this time - it was there, or the library. He didn't expect Yang to be there, but she and Coco were good friends anyway so he didn't mind her coming along. And anyway, she and Blake were nigh inseparable as is, Yang would have found a way to be there even if she wasn't properly invited.

What interested the blind boy most about their relationship was their connection to one another. They were in the early stages of a relationship when he "died", and afterwards they progressed through the stages like a normal couple, but recently - like, the past three weeks or so - they felt so much closer than ever before. It was like a switch; one day they were as they had been, the next they were always there with the other - even when they weren't. Fox always felt a warm Aura hidden away with Blake, or a veil of shadows easing the infamous temper of Yang from her centre; like their Auras had become a part of the other's.

Whilst people could see how close they were physically, not many people could see this though; only he and maybe one other person in the school at a push - he wasn't too sure on what everyone else's semblances were. He saw the orbs of deep violet and yellow prancing about in the seas of the other person's Aura and, whilst he found it quite amazing to see, he felt like asking about it would be a little too abrupt for him. 'Hey guys, how come I can see your Aura in the other person?' Oh yes, that'd go down _so_ well...

"So Fox," Yang asked in her usual confident manner, "why've you brought my Blakey back to yours to see Coco? Because let me tell you, Coco and I are friends, but I would rip her to pieces if she ever tried anything with her!" An elbow struck her in the gut as she looked at her girlfriend. "What?" Eyes widened in horror as her head slowly turned to look at the other Faunus in the entourage. "Shit..." she muttered under her breath, realising that not only did Blake hear that but the Rabbit Faunus behind her probably did as well. "Velvet, I did not mean it like that in any way. I would never hu-"

"Yang," Blake reminded her, "you are digging yourself into a hole. Stop now, and I'll gladly remove the shovel for you." With a quick breath, she stopped her train of thought.

"I'm still sorry though."

"It's fine, I'm sure Coco would do the same if you tried anything like that with me." Yang smirked at the remark.

"You say that _now,_ but give me half an hour and you'll rethink that statement."

"Yang..." She didn't hear her feline girlfriend's comment, as she continued over it.

"I mean, I am _great_ in bed!"

"So is Coco! Better than you, probably."

"Was that a challenge Velvet?" the blonde asked as she squared up against the rabbit Faunus.

"Why, scared you'll lose?" she bit back, not breaking eye contact with her opponent, even as Yang's eyes flickered crimson at the challenge.

"Oh, you've done it now. You're on!" As the two girls shook hands and sealed the deal, the boys in the group stood there in shock.

"...did they just...?" one asked.

"I think they did..." replied the other.

"Can we get to the dorm before Goodwitch catches us talking about that topic?" added Blake, who everyone almost seemed to forget she was even there (that particular talent came naturally to her, sometimes against her will). Yang didn't forget, she deliberately chose to ignore. Blake hated her when she did that, but she couldn't hate her forever. Yang was the one person in her life who brightened her darkest days, and for that she was eternally thankful.

"Good call Blake." Velvet turned and walked hastily towards her dorm door, Fox having to almost jump at her and knock her away to stop the surprise.

"You are just the worst sometimes Yang," Blake whispered harshly.

"Oh come on Blakey! You know you love it~" she sang, a Cheshire Cat grin plastered over her face.

"Not like that I don't. Not in front of others I am not as comfortable with. Our team: fine, when Ruby's in a good mood. JNPR, fine. Velvet, tolerable. Fox and Yatsuhashi, no."

"My bad. But hey, a Sex Battle against Coco and Velvet; how cool is that!"

"I know!" The Faunus' face beamed as she spoke, the frustration at her partner in the last sentence disappearing in an instant as the challenge presented itself again. "We _so_ have to win that, I know how competitive you get."

"Let's not dwell on my victory before it happens. They wanted us here, let's not be rude."

"It's nice to see some of my politeness is seeping its way into your behaviour," she smiled, her ears twitching beneath her bow.

"I don't mind. Two of you would be my idea of Heaven." The pair shared a quick kiss before walking to the dorm of their second year friends.

* * *

The five of them sat in the dorm waiting patiently. In the time they had to kill, they chatted amiably about various different things of no real interest. Yang boasted about something she accomplished in Professor Goodwitch's class, only for Yatsuhashi to remind her that he did the same thing with less effort, needing only to outlast the limited number of items thrown at him. Blake discussed with Fox and Velvet - mostly the latter - about books; her safe for work ones, obviously. The lewder stories were for her eyes only. Well, her's and Yang's now.

But Fox had one question for the younger students, and he really wanted to ask it, even though he mentioned to himself earlier that it would sound crazy. As time stretched on, Yang grew restless and wanted to get up and break down the door to hurry Coco up. Fox decided that it was suicide to try and stop Yang from doing what she wanted - he'd learnt that the hard way when he initially refused to teach her some new fighting moves.

~ _Just ask her, dummy,_ ~ Neo encouraged through their mental link. ~ _What have you got to lose?_ ~

~ _Oh well,_ ~ he thought, ~ _as our glorious leader put it: "you got to be a little crazy to join the ranks._ "~

~ _Atta boy. We'll be out soon._ ~

"Blake."

"Yeah Fox? What's up?"

"I want to ask you about you, and Yang of course." First hurdle cleared. Second hurdle too, as Yang seemed to relax and her thoughts of walking to the door were scattered into her mind. "I, and I imagine a fair few others, have noticed how... close you two have been recently."

"You sound like you're saying that like it's a bad thing Fox."

"No Blake, I didn't-"

"What, do you _want_ me to punch you in the face? Because I can punch pretty hard." A gentle hand rested on her nearest arm.

"Yang, stop threatening them; they're upperclassmen as well." The rage bubble deflated and a smile overtook her face, easing Fox off the defensive.

"If it came out as sounding malicious or offensive I am sorry, I didn't intend it to. I was just... your Aura's piqued my interest." The first year couple blinked, then shot each other a glance. They knew where this was going, but they each felt that the other was ready to speak about it.

"Really?" Yang asked, playing ignorant for a bit to see whether this really was going to go where they thought. "What about them?"

"Well, when I focus hard enough, I can see Auras of people around me. For people I spend a lot of time with, I can see them more often in my normal 'vision'. I can see your Aura's, but inside each of you is, I dunno how to explain it... like a little bit of the other's Aura as well." It had gone exactly the way they'd both thought it would. The Faunus took her girlfriend's hand as she started to explain.

"So as you are all probably aware, Faunus have slightly different customs when it comes to relationships and the like as opposed to humans. Multiple people can be partners to multiple people, and to us as a species, that's not anything abnormal. But one thing we do have that is very different, but kind of not, is called Mate Marking." Velvet's ears pricked up upon hearing that and her eyes widened in glee; she'd figured that this had happened - Faunus just know sometimes - but she never saw Blake on her own enough to ask properly. "In its simplest terms, it's like a love bite where the other person puts a little bit of their Aura inside of you, connecting you together in a way no physical contact could ever rival."

"I mean..." Yang started with a smirk. The disapproving look she got from her partner told her to back down which she did, but not without a little knowing wink that, to her surprise, was returned. Oum, she loved how her traits were slowly spilling into Blake.

"There are three stages to the Mate Mark. The first is temporary and lasts for about 10 days at longest, a week on average, but it can be reapplied whenever to whomever. We've been and gone with the first stage, it kinda..."

"It happened one night during our little 'fun time'; Blake got a little too into it and apparently I gave the 'All-Clear' to her through some very weird, alien language I didn't even know I knew."

"Yang quit playing it up, you're worse than Nora sometimes. You rested your head on mine at one point and that was all." She turned to the three older students to explain. "As Velvet is probably aware of, the way initiating the first stage is done is during or immediately after moments of love between two people - romantic, sexual or otherwise - one person can rest their forehead on the other. If they push against it in response, that is them giving consent to give them a Mate's Mark. Yang... didn't know this, so the next morning was... interesting to say the least."

"So Blake and I talked about it. She mentioned everything she did to you, but in a bit more detail. We gave it a few days to decide on our decisions - 'cause this is a bigger deal to Faunus' than I ever could have imagined - and we came to the conclusion that there is no one else in the world we would rather be with. Problem; a human can't _make_ a Mate's Mark on a Faunus." Velvet's glee dropped as she heard that, her thoughts being shoved to the back of her mind.

"Fortunately for us though, I was a young, stupid and naïve young Faunus. I thought I'd found the one a long time ago, but when we made one another's Mate Marks, I felt his emotions and saw that he was ruthless and cruel and was enjoying making people suffer. I was gone soon after that, our Aura's was being purged from the other's body 5 days after I'd left but the bite mark remained. It also meant that Yang could put her Aura in me just as I could with her, becoming equals. So, on the night of my birthday that's what we did." With a nod they slipped their clothes off of their left shoulders to reveal what was, to the untrained eye, a pair of matching tattoos. It was their emblems; Yang's on the right, Blake's on the left, both leaning inwards and the tops of each connecting to one another forming a link between the two. The colours were of the that person's Aura, but nearer the link at the top they blended together so that it was near impossible to know where one started and the other began. "We officially became each other's Mates."

"They are beautiful, you two are very lucky to have found one another," Yatsuhashi said once he was done admiring the artwork on their shoulders.

"Aww, thanks big guy," Yang replied, a slight blush creeping its way onto her cheeks.

"I can't believe it!" Velvet squealed "That's so awesome!" She tackled her true study-buddy to the floor in a hug that frightened a little "Eep!" from the girl.

"Again with the tackle hugging behind my back Velvet? I'm going to need a few words with you about that." All eyes turned to the door to the bathroom. Out was walking Coco, glammed up in her new attire. All jaws, with the exception of Fox's as he had already seen the dress, hit the floor at how she looked.

Coco was wearing a long gown that was sitting about an inch and a half above the ground, even in bare feet. The material was a mocha brown that faded seamlessly into caramel near the bottom, with fine swirls of woven in scarlet designs along the side. The gown itself hugged her body perfectly, not too tight as to restrict movement or breathing, or show too much of her off, but just perfect enough to compliment her shape. The neck was cut at around the collarbone, showing only the smallest bit of cleavage. Round her shoulders was a shawl that was in the same colour of material as the weaves on the dress, only this one was made of something different. It was a pure velvet shawl in scarlet red.

"Coco..." Velvet managed, standing up and walking over to her in a trance.

"Hey Velv, what'd you think? Pretty incredible, right?" The Faunus felt the dress and still stood there in amazement.

"Coco, you look beautiful."

"Oh stop it you, you'll embarrass me." She didn't care, she just liked teasing her girlfriend - something she and Yang both had in common.

"But I mean it. I do not tell you nearly enough, but you are beautiful." She pulled her girlfriend in to kiss her, their lips meeting and all the ways Velvet would have struggled to express her feelings using words came through effortlessly in that action.

"Fox, your girlfriend is a little miracle worker. I love this."

"Wait, hold up," Yang called, holding her hands up to stop everyone else whilst the words continued to process, "your _girlfriend_ made that Fox?"

"Yeah. It took her a couple of days, but she did that."

"That took _days?!_ " She stared back at the dress, eyeing it up with amazement. "I would have thought something like that would have taken weeks, a month even."

"Nope, just two or three days."

"Holy shit..." Yang and Blake looked back at Coco and the amazing dress she was wearing. "So where is the talented young lady?"

"She was in here with me," Coco replied, "she said she'd be out in a second." True to her word, she was. Yang's eyes shifted to red in an instant, her hair glowing its brilliant golden light as she slammed her fists together, shot up and marched to the girl.

"You have got some nerve coming here! You _that_ eager for me to beat you to a pulp?" Fox jumped between the attacker and his girlfriend as Yang made a swing for her.

"What are you playing at?" he struggled as he fought against Yang's strength.

"She tried to kill me 6 months ago, and I made a promise to myself that if I ever saw her I would kill her first." Neo's signature smirk grew on her face at the determination of the girl - it's why she found her so attractive, but the smirk infuriated the blonde more.

"Yang, that's enough!" Blake grabbed her partner's arm, doing her best to keep it from rising to punch Neo. It was a lot harder than it seemed - Yang was much stronger than most people under normal circumstances. When she was riled up like this...

"Neo isn't like that anymore," Fox assured. "She was doing a job for people she now hates just so she had money in her pocket and a roof over her head at night. But she has changed. She's the unofficial fifth member of Team CFVY." He tried to lighten the mood with the comment, and to his surprise it worked, albeit using that word in the vaguest of senses. Yang's expression didn't change, but the heat and glow definitely eased off slightly. She stared at the petite woman, the reason for her suddenly training like crazy after the incident on the train to better herself to beat her.

"And how can I know to trust her?" Fox went to reply, but Neo stepped in front of him and walked to the middle of the room. She beckoned Yang closer, something the first year did with great hesitance. In the most basic terms she could muster, she made three small gestures. She pointed at Yang, she smacked one fist into her open palm, and then she tapped her cheek twice, Universal Sign for "You. Punch. Me."

"Neo, no!" Fox tried to intervene but a glare from the shorter one of the two halted him in his tracks.

~ _Trust me Fox. It'll all work out. She can hit me to let go of her rage, then maybe we can be on good terms._ ~

"You want me to hit you?" The mute nodded, beads of sweat forming as the heat built up again. Yang smirked; this was what she had wanted. She cracked her knuckles and slowly wound up a punch. "This is gonna hurt, you do realise that?" The small woman took a long, hard breath as she nodded again, bracing herself for the impact. Yang looked at her and hesitated. Blake's Mark started glowing with a slight golden glow as she read Yang's feelings - the glow drawing Velvet's eyes more so than Yang's actions.

_Closure. Anxious. Fear._

Fear? Why would Yang be scared? She saw the amethyst eyes darting across the smaller girl, watching and waiting for the moment when she'd respond and counter her attack, throwing her to the floor and stabbing her like she didn't get the chance to do back on the train.

That moment never came.

Instead, Yang saw her sister. She saw someone acting exactly how Ruby was acting when she got really angry with her and let her temper burst. She remembered a few years before joining Beacon that this very scenario happened, and Ruby had stood there with tears flowing down her face as she braced for the inevitable attack that would follow.

Back then, that moment never came. And now, it reminded the brawler so much of the past that she doubted she'd be able to do it.

Yang was scared that she was about to do something she had sworn herself against doing to someone who in this moment reminded her of her sister, and she decided she _couldn't_ go through with her threat.

In a move that surprised everyone present, Yang rushed to Neo and caught her in an embrace, tears now falling from her eyes.

"I can't do it Neo. You don't deserve that treatment. I'm sorry I didn't trust you, but you've changed." Neo realised that the girl was not out to do anything aggressive towards her anymore, so she returned the hug. "I can't stay mad at you forever." Blake felt her girlfriend's emotions.

_Forgiveness._

"You are one multi-talented woman, ain't ya?" The brawler broke the hug to look at Neo. "That dress is amazing." The ice cream girl blushed slightly at the compliment.

"So Blake, what's your opinion on the dress?" Fox asked.

"Same as Yang's - I can't believe you did that by yourself Neo." Neo's blush grew in intensity. "How'd you do it so fast?"

Neo looked at Fox, asking him whether it was worth telling everyone - it wasn't exactly the most legal of procedures she used to get this done. He gave a small nod. {" _I use Time Dust shards when I work installed into my equipment that make time pass by quicker. I could work for an hour, but only fifteen minutes have passed._ "}

Yang looked at Neo blankly. "Yeah, I don't know Sign Language." She glanced around at the rest of Team CFVYN. "Anyone want to translate for us?"

"She cheated," Coco surmised. Neo glared at Coco briefly. She could have been a little more tactful in her explanation.

"You look fantastic in the dress too Coco; can't give _all_ the praise to the tailor here - no offense." Neo didn't care, she'd had more than enough compliments.

"Thanks Blake. She got everything I've ever wanted on this thing, even pockets. Do you know how hard it is to find a good dress with pockets? How'd you even know what I wanted?" The woman smiled and walked over to her boyfriend, wrapping her arms around him. "Oh right, of course. Thank you too Fox. You really helped make this dress so damn great."

"My pleasure Coco."

"Well, Yang and I better head back. We've got a little bit of studying to do. We'll see you and Coco in a couple of days' time then Velvet?"

"Yes, we shall. I think it'll actually work quite well." She dropped her voice to a volume that was inaudible to even highly trained human ears, but not too difficult to hear for a Faunus. "I want you to help me Mark Coco." Blake's eyes widened slightly, but she kept them under control to not draw attention, and simply nodded. "Thank you," the Rabbit responded again in the whisper.

"What have you roped me into Velvet?"

"When it comes, you'll enjoy it." The two first years both started giggling at the mage's phrasing, drawing their attention again. As if two parts of a perfectly functioning machine, both Blake and Yang simultaneously put one hand on their hip, made a ridiculously over the top pouty face, raised an eyebrow (something Yang was much better at than Blake) and uttered a single word:

"Murr!"

Their giggles couldn't be suppressed any longer as they grew into full on body laughs. It seemed that Yang's immaturity had found its way to Blake, just as her traits had made their way to Yang. Team CFVYN looked at each other. They signed to each other.

{" _Anyone got any ideas?_ "} Four head shook. As laughs passed, the first years bid their farewells and left for their own dorm. Once out of Faunus hearing range, Blake turned to her partner.

"We've got a job to do for our little Sex Battle."

"What, do Rabbit Faunus have different buttons I need to press or something?"

"No. Well, maybe. But that's not it." Blake dropped her voice on the off chance someone might wonder round the corner. "Velvet wants to give Coco a Mate's Mark too, and I believe she wants me to help."

"Um.. how? Couldn't it, y'know, backfire and kill me or something?"

"No, I'd just need to bite Velvet that's all, Coco could do the rest afterwards. Besides, multiple Mates, remember?"

"Oh yeah..."

"And also, that may help win them over in our little challenge."

"Not that we needed any help to begin with." Yang grinned and took her partner in a bridal carry. "But I have to admit, I think I am actually a little bit rusty with my whole lovemaking magic."

"Yang, no you are not."

"Well I think I am, and I don't want to lose to Coco and Velvet," she teased. Blake wasn't buying it.

"You could have just asked y'know. I would have said yes." She winked at Yang, making the grinning blonde grin even wider. Blake decided to go back to Yang's previous attempt at getting to the subject and played along with it. "You're not rusty Yang. Well, I don't _think_ you're rusty, but I suppose there's no harm in making sure."

"Now you're speaking my language, Kitten!"

* * *

~ _They loved it!_ ~ Neo reminisced as she lay in bed with Fox, hugging him tighter at the thought.

~ _They sure did Ni. Do you really use Time Dust to speed yourself up like that?_ ~

~Yeah,~ she confirmed. ~ _Creating something like that takes time. It's hard finding clothes for someone of my size, so I made my own. That takes time too. So I use what Dust I had stolen before to make things a little easier for me._~

~ _You did good._ ~ She gave him a look.

~ _Good? That all? Lowballing much..._ ~

~ _No, you're right. You did an amazing job. They sounded so pleased with you work. I'm so proud of you._ ~ He leaned across and kissed her forehead, and as he did he felt her sigh of contentment.

~ _Thanks Fox._ ~ He glanced down, her Aura seemed a little off when she said that.

~ _Something's bothering you, I can tell; what is it?_ ~

~ _It's just...ugh, I wanted you to see them. See how happy they all were._ ~

~ _Neo, its fine. I've accepted I'll never see them, even if you wanted me to._ ~

~ _It still doesn't mean it didn't pain me to see you not seeing them._ ~ They settled down a little more, with Fox drifting off to sleep before Neo. In the brief moments before she shut her eyes for the night she reached out and placed her hand above his heart. He didn't know she did this, but it helped to soothe her and get to sleep easier. She felt his heart, and felt her own sync up with his. Before sleep took her away completely, one final thought crossed her mind.

_I wish you could see them._

* * *

As the team slept, a faint glow grew from the bed for Fox and Neo. It glowed brighter and brighter in a brilliant blue light, until with a flash, it was gone.


	25. Again

Neo's body told her to wake up now. She always listened to her body. It seemed to tell her the right things - most of the time. But she wasn't awake enough to question herself.

She did, however, question why this time. There had to be a reason.

Heterochromatic eyes scanned the room; were there assassins? No, anyone trying to get into the room like that would have alerted Velvet first, and her too. Also, everyone believed her dead - what good would assassinating her do? So that's a no for assassins.

One of _Her_... things? Again, they'd need reason to come in here; they were still Grimm. And good luck getting Grimm into Beacon grounds without at least someone noticing beforehand. No to it being Grimm.

Her Period? No, she'd never had one of them, and so never had to worry about that problem. _Why would I even suggest that?_

Was it... dear Oum, was it _Goodwitch?!_ No one messed with Goodwitch. A panicked search of the room deemed that The Scariest Thing to Walk on Remnant was nowhere in sight.

The woman relaxed back to rest, the morning sun shining through the window - but not that she cared. She had Fox, and with that she felt at... at... where's his heartbeat?

~ _Fox?_ ~ The long, painful silence that followed helped drive her worries home. ~ _Fox?!_ ~ She leaned across, resting her head on his chest to confirm what she thought she felt before. There was no heartbeat at all.

In a desperate attempt to revive him, she rolled him over onto his back and started compressing his chest, foregoing any training she learnt over the years of being alone, in an effort to restart his heart. ~ _Fox, wake up. Wake up!_ ~ she mentally cried, her compressions getting much sloppier as the minutes dragged on and she became ever the more distraught. ~ _Please... don't do this... not now..._ ~ Every compression grew weaker and weaker as she grew more and more defeated. Tears ran unabated down her pale cheeks, her eyes trying their best to convey what cries and wails would do a much better job at than they.

The ice cream girl hunched over his body and began to noiselessly weep. ~ _Why?_ ~ she asked herself over and over, not understanding the cruel and twisted games the Gods played on her. She looked up, wanting to know if they had cursed her to forever be alone. But in a brief moment of realisation, Neo remembered that she _wasn't_ alone anymore. She was currently in a room with three other people in it, all of whom she trusted and they in turn trusted her back.

Coco's dream was pleasant. It was her and Velvet, walking together without a care. The sun shone brightly in the clear blue sky, and everyone else in this dreamscape, even Yatsuhashi and Fox, were blurred out. Only Velvet could be seen with clarity. That dream was brought to an abrupt end when she was shaken awake by Neo, her eyes red from crying and the tears still currently cascading down her face. The leader spoke with a hushed voice so as to not wake their other sleeping teammates, but still with a curious and worried tone at seeing her like this.

"Neo? What's happened?" Signing proper sentences seemed pointlessly long-winded, so she settled on quick words to get the point across. And they would.

P" _Fox. Dead._ "}

"What?" Coco jumped up and went straight to Fox's bedside, feeling for a pulse or breath. She couldn't find one either. "Velv! Yatsu! Up, now!" The two sleepers were up in seconds; whenever Coco took the tone she currently had they knew she meant business. "Fox isn't breathing, get some help." Velvet's hand shot to her mouth with a gasp. Yatsuhashi fell eerily quiet, looking at Neo who was still by Fox, silently sobbing once again. "Get help!" The two remained as they did, tears beginning to form in the corners of the Faunus' eyes.

"Not again..." she murmured through a trembling lip.

"NOW!"

"Coco, he's dead!" The deep bass sent shivers down the leader's spine. Yatsuhashi had rarely been angry when at Beacon, and even then it could hardly be classed as anger, merely raising his voice, but this was the first time that he had ever turned his 'anger' on a teammate. "He is dead!" The repetition seemed merely to be conforming to himself of the fact rather than to confirm to anyone else who wasn't listening.

"Yatsu, I can't lose him! Not again, I've already lost him once." With that, she fell to her knees as her crying began. Neo was crying into Fox's chest, holding his hand all the while, Velvet was crying whilst comforting Coco, who was sobbing into her girlfriend's shoulder. "I am such a shit fucking team leader."

"Enough Coco, there is nothing you could have done-" the giant was interrupted by the sobbing gunner, who refused to listen to reason, standing up and thrusting her finger into his chest with every word.

"Explain, Yatsuhashi, how Fox would have considered me anything but a poor leader when, in the past three months he has died not once, but _twice!_ You cannot justify yourself with this one Yatsu. Don't even try." He wanted to push further, wanted to reassure her. That would only serve to frustrate her more, so he stopped.

"How could this happen again?" Velvet said through teary eyes and a shaky voice. Despite the boys and girls being partnered together on Initiation, Fox and Velvet were the closest to one another in the team; this was before she and Coco became an item, of course. Losing him was like losing family - it was for all of them.

Neo wasn't sure if they'd stopped talking, or when even. She just saw Fox, laying there on the bed. He was dead. The sight of him tied her stomach in knots. This must have been what it was like for her team back when she and Fox died the first time. They must have felt like this - a feeling that nothing ever was going to be the same. But whereas they lost a teammate and a partner, she had just lost her boyfriend, her lover, the one. He had to be the one, no one else would have had the connection that they did. Maybe she should just run again, go back to finding attractive people and sleeping around. Perhaps she could try something with the Arctic Fox Faunus from the café, there seemed like there was something between them, however small. But thinking like that now was insensitive. Thinking right now seemed insensitive. She wanted time to mourn the loss she'd experienced. A loss she'd never felt before.

_Ba bum_

The sound was missed by everyone the first time round. The mute girl placed a kiss on the boy's forehead, then went to sit with the rest of her grieving team.

_Ba bum_

Neo heard it this second time around, as did Coco.

_Ba bum, ba bum_

Yatsuhashi was next to notice.

_Ba bum, ba bum, ba bum_

Funnily enough, Velvet was last to hear it. The original members of CFVY stood around the bed whilst Neo sat down on the side with Fox. His heart rate climbed to steady levels, mostly pleasing everyone. He was alive, but this was the second time he's 'died', but not really. But then his heart rate passed normal levels, reaching the territories of tachycardia. His breathing, which had returned with his pulse, was short and shallow, his body tossed and turned in his sleep - he was dreaming. But it was a nightmare.

The copper haired boy threw himself up screaming, the sound frightening the shy Faunus girl with acute hearing and their team leader as well, even though they both knew it was coming. He squinted slightly at the mass of light, then recoiled in horror at a sight on his hands that he was holding up to shield his eyes. He rubbed and stared at them so long that he started welling up.

~ _Fox?_ ~ Neo said, taking his hand. He stopped dead in his tracks and looked at the hand that was holding his. He touched it, then followed it up, his jaw dropping further and further as he looked further up the arm. His eyes settled on Neo's and he took a long and heavy intake of breath.

"Neo..." he stroked her cheek and for the first time she had noticed his eyes. No longer were his pupils greyed out and his irises weren't milky anymore, the pupils were bog standard black, and his iris colour was a dark copper brown. It seemed that he had noticed too. "Your eyes... they're different colours..." The two other girls looked at one another in confused glee. "They're beautiful Neo." The sunlight shone through the window and its rays illuminated Neo in a rich morning glow. She looked angelic. "You're beautiful."

She'd heard enough. She leaned in and planted the firmest kiss on the lips she could manage. A newly adjusting eye opened as they were kissing and it spotted three other people in the room.

"Hey, guys. Good to see you."

Coco just stared at Fox. "You... you're eyes."

"Yeah, I know," he replied. "I can see."

Team CFVYN hugged out their relief, with Fox being the filling of the giant cuddle huddle. "Your ears look adorable, Velv."

"Thanks Fox. I'm glad you like them, because I can't change them." The joke lightened the mood, and everyone laughed.

There was silence in the CFVYN dorm. Any tears that fell were ones of joy and they fell silently. Neo and Fox could have talked, but they didn't.

"So... does someone want to explain?" Fox queried, adding some noise to the silence of the room, "because I don't have a clue what the hell just happened."

{" _I think I can explain,_ "} Neo signed, speaking the words in her head for Fox. {" _Last night, before I drifted off, we talked about how I wanted you to see how everyone was reacting to the dress, but you weren't fazed. After you were asleep, I thought to myself 'I wish you could see them' - those words exactly. That might have something to do with it._ "}

"That would make sense," Velvet added, "the Parchment could grant a single wish, right? Maybe that was it. It explains why Fox can now see despite having been blind for his entire life." The team looked at Fox, who looked at them all back. He tried his best to not stare, but when his eyes were still getting used to the whole notion of seeing it was difficult. He always found himself stopping on Neo, the first face he ever saw.

"You used the wish?" The mute nodded, accepting that as the most logical explanation. "Neo, that's it then. We're free from it." She nodded again, the tears pooling up in her eyes again. "We don't _have_ to stay together anymore, we can live our own lives." The mute didn't look pleased about that. "And I don't know about you, but I don't want to live on without you." That's better. And whilst she could have spoken to him in his head, the rest of the team deserved to get in on their little joke, so she signed her answer, then leaned in and kissed him again.

{" _Sap._ "}

And she couldn't be happier about it.

That was, until Goodwitch came barging in.

"What is the meaning of this?!" she all but shouted at the team. "It is the middle of the night, why are you five shouting and screaming?"

"I can explain," Coco offered, rubbing her eyes free of her tears.

"Oh," she said, using her semblance to shut the door behind her and lock it, all but trapping CFVYN in the room with the seasoned Huntress, "you'd better."


	26. So Much To See, So Much To Hear

Fox was very much happy to be taking things slowly today. Other than the fact Professor Goodwitch's sudden appearance in the dorm room last night meant the team had some unplanned but not exactly unexpected punishment for causing the early morning ruckus and getting the teacher out of bed (punishment that he learnt very quickly Neo _enjoyed_ to the point of her being sexually frustrated when it was over), he felt great. He had a whole new sense to be figuring out, and a week to get used to it before classes started up again for semester number five.

Wondering out of the dorm and to breakfast was such a new and exciting experience - heck, anything would be. Students all around may grow tired of seeing the same pillars day after day, or the boring looking carpet, but for Fox everything was new and as such everything was exciting. The normally five minute walked turned to ten, and then turned into fifteen. C_VY decided to leave the remaining two alone and let Neo help Fox out with whatever she could with his new sight.

"It's so fascinating. I'm sorry Ni, but I just can't get over how colourful everything is. There was really only black, white and the colours of everyone else's Auras before. Now there's so many that I don't even know where to start. How many are there?"

~ _How many colours are there?_ ~ He nodded. ~ _That's quite an ask, there's no real, quantifiable answer; I guess that in theory there'd be decillions of different colours. You could have one colour, but every person sees the same colour with an ever so slight difference. And each colour reacts differently under certain mediums. But going off what I know from working with fabrics and things, there's like 16,000,000 different combinations of true colours - some closer to each other than they'd like to believe._ ~ Fox looked at her in amazement at the knowledge she possessed; it was fantastic. She saw him gawking at her and she smirked. ~ _Take a picture, it'll last longer._ ~

"So that's what your smirk actually looks like. It's cute." She blushed.

~ ** _You're_** _cute, pretty boy. But seriously though, you have never explained to me how you could see me when you were blind. Now's the time._ ~

"Y'know, in all this time, I've forgotten how..."

~ _Are you serious?!_ ~ she cried, falling for his bluff.

"Dust, no! Can you imagine? No, I'll spill." He took a slight detour and walked to a free bench in the space between the dorm building and the cafeteria - it was so nice being able to see where he was going for once. "Because I didn't have sight for most of my life before now, I learnt to burst my Aura out and see things around me. It's kind of like echolocation, only more taxing on the body. Even on my best days I could only maintain it for a few minutes, at best. And from that I decided I was going to train myself to improve my skill and push how long I could use it to the limit, but nothing came of it. So I learned a new way of using it. I would burst my Aura out and activate my semblance, which let me see things further, then I'd slowly draw my semblance in as I released it, trying to get it to bleed into my natural Aura. Eventually I succeeded, but it still required a forceful burst so see further than 8 metres away, but I could live with that. As time progressed, I figured out that I could see people from further away when I'd been close enough for long enough, and also how to use it without first having to burst my Aura. So, I did that with my family - the first place I wanted and needed to do it.

"My Dad was the first person I truly saw like this; he used to be a Huntsman before he gave it up to follow his dream of having a family with Mom, so his Aura was unlocked and easiest to find. Whilst she hadn't had any formal training whatsoever, Mom's Aura was fairly easy to sense as well. It's what happens - kids grow attached to their parents and links like that were easy. My younger siblings were a problem. The middle sibling, Vulpé, was fidgeting but ultimately sat down long enough for me to establish a connection. Fenneck, the kit of the litter, was squirming and jumping and generally not wanting to stay still. I was lucky that I figured that so long as I was trying to make a connection, he could be asleep and I'd get the same outcome.

"That was my blood family, and that was all I needed at the time. When I came to Beacon, I had to start again. I was hated and mocked by my peers for my inability to see, so much so that I was told three people all saw me and turned and ran so that I wasn't their partner. Yatsuhashi was the only one who stayed. He came close and made himself known, then I caught him with my semblance and that's how I became his partner. When we, along with Coco and Velvet, took the Black Rook we became Team CFVY. I spent a few days familiarising myself with their Aura's and now they're etched into my head. I spent time with the professors, getting to know their Aura signatures - though I never have had the chance to get Prof- _Doctor_ Oobleck's due to his extreme hyperactivity. And with every person's Aura I get accustomed with, I gain some sort of connection and understanding with.

"Grimm were the biggest obstacle. They don't have an Aura. I realised in Port's class that I can sense their lack of Aura, and while I can sense the mass of nothing as a general thing, I couldn't tell what Grimm was what unless I got close for a long time. Boarbatusk and Creeps were the easiest, funnily enough Nevermores came close third once they were nesting. Ursa, Taijitu, Death Stalkers and Beowolves were increasingly more difficult, especially the last two. That's where a large number of my scars came from." Neo looked down at the boy's exposed arms, eying the faded cuts and scratches on his tanned skin. "Goliath's were easy enough once I was on its back and could stay there long enough - it took much longer than most of the others due to its size, but by far and the worst were Griffons. All I needed was some time.

"And as for why I could see you smirking. Well, I did what I normally did with people I was having to be close with and started familiarising myself with your Aura. It'd normally take me about fifteen to twenty minutes before I'd seen enough to know who a person was and all that constantly. With you, I kind of... dozed off while I was doing it. My eyes were shut, but my brain clearly hadn't shut off completely, because when I woke up I saw your Aura glowing like the sun. That's not an exaggeration either, sometimes it _hurt_ looking at you. In a good way, of course. And your features were so prominent, I could see every detail on your face, just like I can now. I could see someone so vividly for the first time in my life, and every action you took, from your blinking to your smirking, was just as clear as they are to me now.." Once again, he stroked her cheek. She was getting quite used to it; it was soothing. "The only thing was the fact your Aura was multi-coloured, which made it a little awkward at times to see your expressions, but only at first. Now, I don't need to rely on that. I can see you just fine."

~ _Wow, that's... a lot to take in. I never knew you had siblings._ ~

"Yeah, neither are old enough to even being thinking about training, but Fenneck has got potential. What about you? You never really talked much about your life before."

_Before._

She never had a chance to talk about "before". Mercury, Cinder and Emerald didn't care, Roman was always busy, the average grunts they worked with she wouldn't give the time of day to. Her life before was hers to know, and hers alone.

~ _I-_ ~ her thoughts were cut off by a loud growl from her stomach. ~ _I am really hungry. Can we eat first, then talk about it later?_ ~

"Sure, I'm pretty sure I'm feeling the same way as y-" a second growl made itself known, this time from Fox's stomach. "Yup, there it is." He chuckled and rose from his seat, extending an arm and letting Neo take it as they walked to the cafeteria.

Once they got their food, Fox made a quick trip to where Team RWBY was sitting. They weren't second years, but Ozpin always encouraged getting to know your fellow students of any year - "they may be your allies when you are out there defending the world from evil" he always mentioned. The eight of them got on anyway; something that surprised Coco initially was how she bonded over talks of fashion with Yang, who also has had a few lessons from Fox to improve her hand-to-hand combat skills. Velvet stuck to Blake like glue when they first met each other and started studying together, something Blake didn't seem to mind too much, and Ruby was practically fangirling over the entire team's weapons and Coco's semblance on top of that, something Yatsuhashi found quite endearing and Coco... tolerated. Fox thought they ought to know, he considered them friends.

"Morning guys."

"Hey Fox how are youuuuuu-" Ruby's brain seemed to stop and she held the word for a remarkably long time as she noticed his eyes, along with the rest of her team. Weiss tried to apply reason to it and deduce what had happened.

"What happened to your eyes Fox? They look... normal?" She drew a blank.

"They are Weiss. I can see." Weiss and Blake remained mostly silent after that, but they still congratulated him on his miracle sight. A blonde mess of hair flew between the monochromatic teammates and stared right at Fox, her lilac eyes capturing his attention. Yang, being Yang, did what many expected of her.

"How many fingers am I holding up?" Fox rolled his eyes at her, something else he was somewhat looking forward to doing more - rolling your eyes always seemed like an interesting gesture in the books he'd read.

"Congratulations Yang, you did the thing. Six." The blonde grinned, insisting that she just wanted to make sure he was definitely not-blind, just like he was previously not-not dead, but in the end she was delighted for him. Weiss had to step in to stop Ruby from passing out.

"Ruby, cut it out, you're turning blue!"

"-uuuuuu..." she took an enormous, over exaggerated breath then quietly replied "Sorry..."

"Hey, so does this mean we could try some more training sessions over the next week?" Yang asked, ignoring the little lover's quarrel beside her.

"Sure, although you may need to be the one in charge. You might have to re-teach _me_ some things - sight's a whole new ballpark for me." The brawler agreed. Ruby hugged him, stating that it was so cool that he could see now, but also that she wasn't sure how that'd happen though. She suggested Robot Ninja Pirates from Space, but her own partner shot the idea down. He gave a very brief recount, stating that it basically all had to do with when he died.

"That's cool, I guess..." she said, trailing off to a mumble as she continued with "not as cool as Robot Ninja Pirates from Space though..."

"Ruby, that's a childlike fantasy scenario from one of your many comics, and you know it."

"Weiss, I've seen you reading my comics, don't pretend you don't like them."

"I have no idea what you are on about, I only read real books."

He bid the non-arguing "not-a-couple" on the table a farewell, then went back to his own team and ate. Only when he got back and looked at his food did he realise, it really did look as bad as it tasted. Once that was over, he and Neo walked around the campus and spoke about her past. They did so in their heads out of politeness and caution on the off chance that news got back to someone like Ozpin.

~ _You don't have to tell me,_ ~ he offered, ~ _it was just a suggestion, and one I do not mind dropping._ ~

~ _It's alright Fox. Besides, you deserve to know - no one else does..._ ~

~ _Wait, no one? You've never told anyone else this at all?_ ~ His answer came in the form of a shaking head. ~ _Got to say though, I have no idea what you see in me. Why trust someone like me, I'm just a dumb Huntsman-in-Training who could blurt anything out._ ~

~ _First, not funny. Second, you are **my** dumb Huntsman-in-Training. Third, I tell you because I love you. Now shush, and let me explain._~ Neo unlinked her arm from Fox just so that she could help herself move her hands and express herself more easily.

~ _Back when I was much younger, there were many things that were different. I lived in Atlas, I had a family. And I could speak..._ ~


	27. Orchid Russet

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *insert memory sequence harp noise here*

The skyline was sparkling with the glare of hundreds of marble white buildings reflecting the Midwinter sun onto the streets below. Citizens of Atlas moved along and went about their days without paying much attention to one another. Vehicles drove by without caring much for the pedestrians on the sidewalk, save for when it mattered. Those who were working their jobs were doing so, and those who had a day off were enjoying the relaxation of having no worries until the sun rose the following morning.

Further out from the main city of Atlas and the Schnee Castle/Manor/Big House (whatever people decided to call it) came the houses of those who worked in the city with their big jobs. Outside of that but still living on the floating Kingdom instead of back on the ground of Remnant in Mantle, came those who were less fortunate, by Atlas standards at least. Living in this area was a very particular family - the Russets.

The Russet household had a few who lived in it. There was Oakley and Yubae Russet - the two parents - who lived with their two children, along with a single servant named Lang. See, even the "poorest" of Atlas families had servants. Vinnie Russet was the eldest sibling, three and a half years older than his younger sister, Orchid Russet.

On this particular day of the week, both Oakley and Yubae had a day off at the same time, meaning that they always spent this day as Family Day. Only being three years old at the time, Orchid couldn't do as much as her brother or parents could, but that never meant she didn't try.

"Hey there, what're you doing there Orchid?" Oakley asked his daughter as she tried working at the same pace as her sibling and parents.

"I try do what V'nn and you and Mommy do," came her slightly lispy reply.

"And why are you trying to do that? It's things that we older people can do so that you won't get hurt."

"But I want try!" Oakley couldn't stay mad at his beautiful daughter. Her hair and eyes both shone a brilliant pink in the wintery Atlas sunshine, and even through all of that, her smile outshone it all.

"Okay, sweetie, but Mommy or Daddy _needs_ to help you when you do this. Okay?"

"'Kay!" she beamed and skipped off as best she could to grab her mother's leg.

As the next couple of years went on, Orchid became more and more adept at things they did on Family Day, matching even her now eleven year old brother's capabilities in some cases, even at seven and a half. Orchid could bake simple things like cookies and cupcakes, she'd been taught how to sew on a button after she had insisted on being taught - though she needed to wear special gloves that reduced or completely nullified the pain from any pinprick she received. Above all else, she could sing until her throat was sore, then she'd sing some more after having her 'Magical Singing Milkshake' (it was all three flavours of powdered milkshake they sold in the stores poured into one glass and stirred to make this horrible looking concoction that surprisingly didn't taste half as revolting as it looked. It needed to have more strawberry powder than chocolate or vanilla though. Strawberry was her favourite because "it was pink like her hair and like her eyes and Mommy's hair and Mommy's eyes"). Apparently only she could have it though, or else everyone else would become amazing singers and she'd be "out of a job" a joke her mother Yubae loved hearing.

But one day Lang, who was treated less like a servant and therefore acted more like an extended member of the family, noticed something about little Orchid that worried him. Her natural pink hair, a trait she inherited from her mother, was fading quite rapidly to brown, but only from one of her head. There were parts in her pink half of her head that were decolouring completely in stands, leaving essentially white highlights in her hair. Her eyes were changing too, they would shift constantly between colours, especially when she was upset or angry. That didn't stop her from being the same bundle of joy they saw almost every day, but it was concerning nonetheless. Lang spoke with the parents one night when the children were asleep.

"What should we do sir? Ms. Orchid's condition seems to be worsening day by day."

"I appreciate your concern for my daughter's wellbeing Lang, truly. There may not be a lot we can do though."

"What about the hospital dear?" Yubae mentioned to her spouse and servant that the Atlas Hospital has the best medical care on Remnant, surely there is something that they could do. "I believe it's worth a shot at the very least."

"...Yes, I suppose there would be no harm in trying. I love my little pink flower and I'd want her to be as healthy as she possibly can. Schooling for her starts in a few months and I wouldn't want her being bullied for such an abnormality."

"I shall take her to the hospital in the morning; say it's a routine check-up or something to not raise any suspicions from her."

"Very well Lang. Thank you." The three adults took their leave and went to bed that night, not knowing it was one of the last good nights they'd have as a family.

Lang took Orchid to the Atlas General Hospital the very next morning once Oakley had gone to work and Yubae had taken Vinnie to school.

"Uncle Lang, why am I going to the hospital? Am I sick?"

"No my flower, you're not sick. Mommy and Daddy just need you to go to make sure everything is alright with you. It's a routine check-up"

"What does 'routine' mean?"

"It just means run of the mill, Orchid. Something that you do every so often that isn't because something bad happened to you, but to stop something bad happening."

"Is that why I'm going? Because something bad is going to happen to me?"

"No Orchid, you're fine. Just relax, we'll be there in a few minutes." Lang had to make his lie sound as convincing as possible - there was no guarantee she was okay. They arrived at the building, a pristine white structure crafted with elegant design, and made their way to the desk. A woman sat there with her blonde hair tied neatly in a bun at the back and her glasses sat on the bridge of her nose.

"Welcome to the AGH, how may I be of assistance today?"

"Yes, Ms. Orchid here is in need of examining. Her hair and eyes are showing uncharacteristic abnormalities and I have been sent on behalf of Mr. and Mrs. Russet to see that she is."

"Of course sir. If you'd like to wait over there, someone will show her to the room as soon as possible."

"Thank you." The pair sat on the blue seats nearby, Orchid rocking her legs backwards and forwards impatiently as she watched the second hand of a clock on the wall slowly turn.

"Uncle Lang, why did you call me Ms Russet? I thought I was Orchid."

"You are. You are Ms Orchid Russet. I just need to be much more formal when I'm out of the house and in a place like this, it's part of my little job."

"Oh. Okay." Orchid was a bright girl, she knew that whenever Uncle Lang talked about his little job she wasn't allowed to question him any further. It's not that it was too difficult of a job to explain - he was the servant to the Russet Household - it's more the fact that her little world might fall apart if she knew that Uncle Lang was just supposed to be Lang the Butler. They waited about fifteen minutes before someone called out her name.

"Uncle Lang, that was me!"

"Yes it was my flower. Now come on, we don't want to keep them waiting do we?"

"Nope!" She hopped out of the seat and walked into the room, Lang sitting in the chair nearby whilst people worked to finish off readying the machines for her. "Is this all for me?"

"Yes it is my dear," one of the Atlas doctor's said, "we just need to test a few things and get to know a bit more about you and how you work inside. Once we have that... well, we'll take things one step at a time." Another doctor handed Lang a hospital gown and told him that she will most likely need to change into it at some point.

"With what you are looking for, we're going to need to do some more intense examinations; scans, blood samples and the like. These are essentially the pre-tests so that we don't do something wrong for the real ones."

"I understand, thank you." The doctor looked back at the young girl, idly chatting away to one of the doctors without a care in the world. "Your daughter really is beautiful."

"She isn't my daughter I'm afraid. I'm merely..." he brought his voice down to a whisper "...the Butler, but don't tell her." He spoke normally again. "I'm her Uncle Lang, and I'll do anything for her." The man shot her a smile as she grinned a toothy grin back.

"I see Mr Lang. Well, we'll look after her no matter what."

True to the second doctor's word, the first lot of test were to calibrate certain machines in the room and other rooms for Orchid. Simple test, compared to the tests that followed. They did a CAT Scan and an MRI Scan to look inside her head and see what might have started this thing, but results came up negative on both. They took a few small samples of blood, small enough to get readings quickly without having to wait too long. Those results showed no signs of abnormality. It was only when they got to the Aura scan did something crop up. The doctors told Lang, who left the room immediately and contacted Oakley to inform him.

 _*That... explains a few things at least,*_ Oakley said after Lang had explained everything to him.

"I agree sir, _heterochromia borealis_ ; quite rare indeed, and apparently one of the most extreme cases they've seen. The fact her Aura is shifting so greatly may explain why her hair and eyes are also changing. There is no definitive proof on that last part, it's just a theory at the moment, but it's all they can say that could explain it."

 _*I see.*_ There was a quiet between the two men; Lang waiting for his master to speak whilst Oakley went through many different possibilities in his head.

"Sir?"

 _*What could they suggest that'll help it?*_ The butler was a bit confused at the statement.

"Help it?"

 _*Help **calm** it, I should say. Stop her Aura from being so all over the place and bring it to a single sustainable level that doesn't put my baby girl in harm's way.*_ This was out of their control, but not completely hopeless, right? They could do something.

"I did not check with them sir, but I am unsure what they can do. Besides, she has DAG Syndrome, and every case that has been recorded hasn't been fatal nor, in most cases, does it hinder a person in any way. All it does is make the Aura a bit all over the place, but nothing a good teacher couldn't straighten up."

 _*I am aware Lang,*_ he snapped, something very unlike him. Lang held the Scroll away from his ear on the off chance that he may raise his voice again, but that never happened. Quite the opposite, now he spoke in nothing more than terrified whispers. _*I am aware. I just don't want to lose her. She's my little Orchid, Lang. **Our** little Orchid.*_ There was a small sniffle on his end of the line before he rounded himself off. _*Just see what they can do for her.*_ The line went dead.

Lang passed the parent's comments on to the doctors, who prescribed a shot of a medicine that hadn't been in circulation for very long but was having near perfect results throughout both testing phases and early trials. The medicine worked almost like an anti-inflammatory for the Aura, calming it down to work itself much slower than it normally would. The nulling effects should last a year, then afterwards a booster shot can be given every 3 years. He agreed and Orchid was given the shot, then was cleared to go home.

"Uncle Lang, I'm hungry."

"Me too kiddo." He spotted something coming up ahead of them, then grinned to himself. "Hey Orchid~" he sang, "Do you like ice cream?" The high pitched squeal from the back seat meant yes.

The two of them went in and ordered ice cream. Lang went for a 'Grown Up ice cream', and naturally that raised some questions from the inquisitive seven year old.

"I'd tell you, but that means _everybody_ would know, then it wouldn't be a secret Grown Up ice cream, now would it?" The girl slammed her hands against her mouth to silence herself. Orchid muffled through her hands that she wanted three ice creams in her favourite flavours, but Lang had a better idea. "You can't have that Orchid."

"Why not? I want them."

"I'm only letting you have one ice cream. But before you start kicking and screaming," he preempted as he saw the girl start to take a deep breath in like she did when the screaming and/or crying was about to start, "I have a better idea for you."

"Better than a strawberry or vanilla or chocolate ice cream?"

"Yup, much better. It's an ice cream made just for you." He booped her on the nose as her eyes widened in glee.

"For me? I get my own ice cream?"

"Not exactly, but it's made for someone who likes them all but is only allowed to have one," he glanced up at her hair and decided to incorporate it, "and for people with multi-coloured hair like you too. It's called Neapolitan ice cream."

"Neo-politan?"

"Nearly Orchid. It's ice cream with all three of your favourite flavours in it at once." She gasped.

"Really?!"

"Really. One Neapolitan ice cream please." He handed over a few more Lien and within a minute was handed his own Rum and Raisin ice cream and Orchid's Neapolitan. She was in heaven the second she saw it. It became her favourite thing ever.

* * *

Months later, shortly after she had turned 8, things took a terrible turn for her. The shot she was given back in the hospital 6 months ago worked fine for the time being, her Aura had calmed down drastically and remained ivory white throughout that time. But after, it reacted negatively. The sweet little voice of Orchid suffered as a result. Her Aura went crazy, taking her voice away as it tried to combat itself inside of her body. There was nothing doctors, or anyone, could do to save it. The Aura tired itself out of its own accord, settling down to a standstill after it had done the damage. The only plus side to the whole endeavour was that Neo discovered her semblance; the ability to effectively teleport - although with how her Aura behaved it meant that every time she did it looked like her 'old' body shattered like glass.

Yubae was devastated at what had happened to her little girl, as was Oakley, but none more so than Lang. Orchid's parents worked a lot, so he looked after her when she was growing up more than they did. He grew close to her and cared for her like his own, despite only being part of this household as a job. He couldn't face her for weeks when her voice disappeared. They learnt from the doctors that because of how it reacted with her, the condition had become contagious in her. She had to remain housebound in near isolation for years for it to be purged from her system to a level that meant she could venture outside once again. They relocated to a larger abode so that she could still wonder around without feeling claustrophobic. After fruitless efforts to try and restore her voice, they hired the best person they could find and helped teach Orchid Sign Language; one of the few ways she'd ever be able to communicate again. She picked it up easily, was conversational in 10 days and was fluent in less than a month.

Orchid made the most of her time away from everyone else. Her sewing skills grew exponentially to the point where she could make fairly detailed garments in weeks, and she trained herself in sword fighting. Well, the basics at least. And she didn't have a sword to train with. Luckily, there were plenty of umbrellas lying around the house, so she used them as weapons instead. By her 9th birthday, Orchid much preferred her own company over everyone else's, even her own family. Vinnie came into her room one day to try and speak with her, a bowl of ice cream in her lap as she stared at her Scroll.

"Hey sis. How's it going?"

Orchid pried herself from her Scroll to answer. {" _Good. I've got a lot better at sword fighting, though it's difficult to practice without someone else there._ "}

"Well, I'm here. I can help."

{" _I don't want you to hurt me Vin. And before you say I won't, you very well might. I've practiced what I can find, but there are so many things on defensive techniques, and hardly any on offensive ones, saying that 'offense comes from the person, not a technique'._ "}

"You need to trust me when I say I think you can handle yourself against me, Sis. I want to be a Huntsman, even though I know it probably may never happen. Atlas is constantly pushing me further away from the combat classes and more towards the ones that'll prove 'more beneficial for my future', i.e. not what I want. So much like you, I practice away from the prying eyes of Professors. I train myself to at least get a chance to do something. If I fail then, that is when I give up. Not before." He stood up and walked over to the umbrella in the corner of the room and chucked it over to her, picking up two tri-pronged candelabra for himself. "C'mon, let's get some practice in." She smiled and accepted the challenge.

Years passed. Vinnie got accepted into Atlas and sailed through the first three years. He even got accepted onto the final year program and would be starting that in a few weeks. Orchid was so proficient with the umbrella that decided the first thing she'd do when she left here was helping make a combat one, with a hidden blade. But she knew that she couldn't stay at home. She sat down with everyone to talk to them about this, and she believed she'd be met with protest. Nothing of the sort.

{" _You're... letting me leave?_ "}

"Of course Orchid. We don't want you here forever - as much as it hurts for us to say that - but when you do leave soon, there's nothing we can do anymore. You're already self-sufficient, you don't need us."

{" _But I want you. You're my family,_ "} she argued

"We always will be, my flower," Lang said, his once raven hair now grey from stress about Orchid's safety, "but every bird must fly the nest eventually." She smiled as she hugged him, then turned to the rest of her family.

"We're going to miss having our little girl here," Oakley sighed, "but Lang is right."

{" _When I leave, I'm going to do things I normally wouldn't have dreamed of. I'm going to fight, but I'll keep my crafting as a hobby. You won't know it's me unless you saw me - I'm going to have a whole new identity. You'll be safe from any backlash, because I want you safe._ "} Everyone nodded.

That night, Orchid said goodbye to her parents, brother and Uncle one last time. The truth slipped about him only being the butler, but Orchid didn't care - he was still Uncle Lang to her. With tears and a final hug for all, Orchid left her home and never returned. Orchid never came home. Someone similar did though. Every so often, an emerald eyed girl with jet black hair wearing a skirt and blouse came to visit. Her name was Cherry, and she was welcomed in every time like it was her home. It was.

Orchid left Atlas and promptly died. In her place stood the new person she chose to be. She was sly and mischievous, and carried a parasol with a hidden blade in it. That wasn't the only thing she wanted to carry to remember her family by. She changed her name to reflect the colours she sported in her hair, and to remember her favourite food as introduced to her by her Uncle. She was Neo. And she had her first mission: destroy any and all traces she had of her past life.

* * *

"Wow..." Fox whispered, the reality of Neo's situation hitting him like a tonne of bricks. "So, you left your family at seventeen and turned to crime to survive?"

~ _Yeah. It was tough at first, but I got a break one night and I kept moving from there. I first slept with someone a year down the line, and then seven years later we're here. It made me who I am today. It's weird though, every time I go to Atlas I always pop by to see Mom and Dad. They don't change, and they always expect to hear the craziest stories of how I killed this guy or did that to another.~_

"Wait, they don't mind your actions?"

~ _Oh, they minded. They hated it at first. But over time they came to realise that they're sitting with Orchid but talking to "Cherry", or "Tango", or whoever I was when I visited. I was a completely different person to who they saw, and so these stories to them are just fantasies from their little girl's mind._ ~ A tear fell from her eye, surprising her as she didn't even feel it welling up at all. ~ _I never told them about the sex though, that'd just be weird. I was never taught anything about it, and in all honesty what do you expect from someone who is housebound throughout puberty with literally no outlet? I know no different, and as such a lot of people call me out on it, saying I just act like a horny kid, jumping on anyone who vaguely interests me. And that's... kind of true, but I didn't know what else to do. So I did what I have always done, only this time I got a little too attached. But did you see that tail, how could I not?_ ~ she added, trying to bring the mood up a bit.

"You are one brave woman Ni. I don't think there ever has or will be anyone as brave as you. And you don't need to justify what you did in the past, it's gone now. Live in the here and now, it's more fun."

~ _Thanks Fox._ ~ She leaned across and rested her head on his shoulder. ~ _You always know just what to say to make things better._ ~


	28. A Long Time Coming (heh)

Neo and Fox were woken by a squeal. It was so loud and so high pitched that it probably would have woken Blake and a few other Faunus across the campus as well, despite the fact that Blake was a floor down and on the other side of the complex. And coming from Coco, no doubt, made the two in the other bed stare.

"It worked Velv! It worked!"

"By 'it'," Fox groaned, "I hope you mean 'Soundproofing the Dorm', because I do _not_ want to be spending the rest of this holiday trapped with Goodwitch... once was enough!"

' _I dunno, I always found using riding crops was quite fulfilling when I got the chance to use them._ '

"You stop that, right now." Fox repeated his previous comment with another heavy groan. "Once was enough."

"I've got a Mark! We're Mated Velv!" The leader couldn't contain her excitement at the sight, jumping about more than a child during the Holidays seeing presents under the tree. "Oum, this feels amazing!" She stroked her shoulder as if it was a pet, then bounded over to the once sleeping couple to show them. "Look! Isn't it cool?" On her shoulder was Coco's emblem, but as you went outwards from the centre it grew more and more abstract until it became a mass of hard light blue lines and whirls that rough formed a heart shape. Connecting that all together though were two circles of light; one of caramel, the other a deep scarlet.

"That's really cool Coco, but-"

"I _know!_ I can't believe it, we're Mates! Oh, this feels so wonderful... but at the same time really exhausting..."

"No Coco..." a voice strained from underneath the pillow beside her, "that exhaustion is me, actively projecting my feelings to you..."

"We can do that?" she asked awestruck.

"Yes... and as I am _trying_ to tell you, I am tired and would appreciate it if you'd stop parading that about to our team. We have another two years here, they are going to see it at some point."

"But hunny-bun, I just want them to see it now. I'm proud of what we are-"

"Yeah, I can tell through the Mark."

"-I'm proud, but at the same time realising I might not get to show it off too much."

"First," she groaned, clicking her fingers and sitting up, "every Faunus in Vale will be able to detect a new Mates Mark, so they'll all know. It's how I guessed Blake and Yang were mated before we were told. Second, we'll have to find a way of showing that off _later._ And speaking of later; third, you made me do this." There was no time to react as a pillow was suddenly latched on to Coco's face, her scream muffled by the feathers. Twenty six seconds later, Coco was sleeping again. Groggy but satisfied with his work, Yatsuhashi waddled back to bed, placing the bottle of infused lavender oil and chloroform back in his drawer, his pillow back on his bed - oil soaked side down, of course, and pulled the covers up to return to the World of Snooze as if nothing had happened.

Fox and Neo stared in horror at the sight. This was not the sort of thing the scarred brawler was expecting to see within his first week of sight. "Do not _ever_ mention how we get her to sleep," she threatened, glaring at Fox and Neo with the eyes of a Huntress ready to kill, "sometimes, it's our only sure fire and most effective method of getting her to sleep. Alcohol is a close second, but we aren't made of money. Also, I want to sleep now, not later." The couple just continued staring. "Understood?" They nodded rapidly, not a sound from either of them - a feat easier for one than the other. Only once she was satisfied with their answers did Velvet return to sleep as well.

~ _Not exactly how I was expecting to be woken up this morning,_ ~ Fox admitted telepathically, thankful for this that would allow them to escape the wrath of a pissed off Velvet Scarlatina.

~ _Me either,_ ~ was the mute woman's response as she snuggled up closer to her boyfriend, ~ _but at least that means I get to wake up next to you twice today._ ~

~ _Ever the optimist._ ~ The couple quickly kissed, then settled back down to return to enjoy what little sleep they could grab.

Across the campus, Blake was sat on her bed clutching her Faunus ears in pain, her tired eyes staring at the wall in the exact direction of Team CFVYN's dorm.

' _fucking hate you sometimes Coco,_ she thought to herself as she realised the high pitched squeals had subsided, releasing her ears. To make sure everything was okay, she made her way to the bathroom to get some cotton wool buds and clean her ears, hoping that all she'd get was earwax and not copious amounts of blood.

* * *

Team CFVYN decided they would take a trip into Vale today to get a few things; Coco was still adamant that she was going to show hers and Velvet's Mate Marks off to everyone before the day was done, and so they decided they'd go out for a nice meal to celebrate and show it off there. This is, if everyone hadn't already seen it by then. Everyone wore much more casual clothes than their usual combat outfits, with the exception of Fox who honestly didn't have much in the way of casual wear, just many different versions of his black jeans and muted orange vest. Coco and Neo were going to fix that today though.

Coco was there in a pair of dark fashionable knee length shorts and a slate grey tank top that showed off her shoulder perfectly; but on the off chance the weather turned she also had a chequered shirt tied around her waist. And of course, her signature sunglasses and beret, though she admitted she wouldn't be too fussed if Velvet wanted to take it and help her complete her own outfit.

"How will the beret help Coco?" the Faunus wandered out loud.

"I love it when you wear my stuff, I just think it'd look especially good with what you're wearing." The Faunus wore a tank top to expose her shoulder much like her girlfriend (and on said girlfriend's behest), she carried her weapon, Anesidora, on the belt that held up her faded blue jeans, and she wore a pair of platform shoes to bring her up closer to Coco's height. The shy Faunus started blushing, normally she'd bite back at her girlfriend in private, but in public she stepped back from that and was much more subdued, though in her defence she was trying to let the Velvet Team CFVYN see in private to spill out slightly into the Velvet everyone else sees.

Yatsuhashi wore a large green hoodie with the sleeves rolled up and some simple sand coloured cargo pants - he wasn't a big fan of the weather in and around Vale, he never had been, so he always preferred to err on the side of caution when it came to what he'd wear going out.

"Also, a hoodie and cargo pants offer much more protection from an attack that shorts would." The girls and Fox couldn't argue there.

Neo walked hand in hand with Fox wearing a light cream sun dress, white pumps and a small hat that had a little pink feather protruding from the rim. Whilst Velvet's platforms brought her up to more of the level of the rest of their team, it left Neo in the dust; the feather was fairly big though and did help a little bit, but in comparison to everyone else though she was still fairly tiny. And of course, she would be Neo if she wasn't wondering round in public with her trusty parasol on her shoulder, it wasn't open but she twirled it round all the same.

The team made their way to an establishment Coco knew well. It didn't cater to her needs all the time, but when it did the quality was amazing.

"Hello there madam, how can I help today?"

"Hi, we're just here to get some things for my friend here. We found him when he was but a lost cause, but we've finally got him to see reason."

"Coco I'm right here, I can hear what you're saying about me."

"Way to ruin the fun, Fox." She turned back to the Faunus who greeted them who she caught looking at her Mark. "It's just some casual wear for him, something nice as well if you have it."

"Of course. If you'd like to follow my colleague sir." There was a brief pause as Fox and Neo looked at each other.

"My girlfriend wants to know if she could come along with me? She loves her fashion, and says she wants to make sure my stuff doesn't clash with her own outfit."

"That's fine sir; you may follow as well then madam." Neo smiled as she walked after Fox. The Faunus at the desk, a Dog Faunus if their eyes weren't deceiving them, turned back to the three waiting there and smiled at the team leader. "I noticed your Mark madam, congratulations. Who's the lucky Faunus then?" Velvet was reluctant to step forward, so Coco shuffled back and put her arm down to let Velvet grab her hand for comfort. The Dog made no such efforts to oppose at all. "Congratulations to you as well madam; I wish you all the best and a prosperous life with your amazing partner."

"Thank you," the mage said as her face started beaming. It was the first time that she'd gotten a verbal acknowledgement of their status as Mates and it made her feel giddy with delight - Coco was _hers,_ and no Faunus was going to take that away from her anymore; hopefully the humans would get that idea soon as well. 

"Here that, Velv?" Coco whispered to her partner, kissing her between the ears, "you're amazing." In addition to beaming, Velvet was now blushing.

Fox was sent into the changing rooms with the first of many things for him to try on whilst Neo sat outside the room waiting. The ice cream girl opened up her Scroll when she heard it ping to see a message from Velvet.

**Velvet:  
_Hey, Coco and I are heading off with Yatsu. Coco said we might as well do our thing whilst you two do yours_**

**Neo:  
_Makes sense. What's your plan?_**

**Velvet:  
_Not a clue. Yatsu said he'd take us somewhere._**

**Neo:  
_Nice. Enjoy x_**

Neo paused for a second before she smirked as a thought crossed her mind. Making sure Fox was still changing, she quickly replied to her teammate again.

_**Actually, do you think you can take your time? I'd like to have a little time with Fox back at the dorm** _

**Velvet:  
_I'm sure we could, but why?_**

**Neo:  
_What would most couples with a lot of time, a free room and no one else around do? ;)_**

**Velvet:  
_Careful what you write Neo, Fox isn't blind anymore_**

That bit of information genuinely slipped her mind for a moment. That would have been embarrassing... or may have broken the ice - one of the two.

**_Coco says "Whoop whoop, get 'em on the Bang Bus"_  
**

_**She also said to say "If you fuck with him in the bad way she will not hesitate to kill you in your sleep" so I guess that means she's okay with it?** _

_**As am I and Yatsu** _

Coco had a weird way of expressing herself sometimes, but the group's approval meant that Neo had a second chance to do this.

**Neo:  
_Thank the others for me_**

_**And tell Coco that I wouldn't dream of doing anything wrong to him** _

_**Also tell her I'm not sending her pictures, she'll understand**_  

Once she had sent that final message she closed the Scroll down and put it back in the little pocket she sewed on her dress - which idiot thought it was a good idea _not_ to put pockets on an item of clothing? Just as Fox was about to leave the changing room her Scroll pinged again, she'd have to wait to see what it said. Fox walked out and spotted himself in the mirror as he passed. This was the first time he'd seen himself in anything but pyjamas and his regular clothes, so it came as a shock to his system.

"Well, I like what this mirror has to say, but what about you Ni? You're probably the best mirror I have around here." She stood there for a moment to take in her boyfriend. He held himself so much better now than she had ever seen him before, the suit was making him more confident inside and it was showing with how he acted on the outside. The fact he could see himself probably helped that fact.

~ _Even if I could speak hun,_ ~ Neo admitted as she finally walked over to him, fixing a few bits that were loose or out of place on his outfit, then took the untied tie from his hand, ~ _I'd be left speechless. You look fantastic!_ ~ Fox looked at himself again, squared against the mirror and smiled. Fox stood there in a coffee brown, two-buttoned two piece suit. The notch lapel had a pin hole that was threaded with a bronze thread, much like the top-stitching that lined the outside of the lapel and the jacket pockets. Neo couldn't help herself looking at how well the suit fitted Fox's shape; even with the body of a Huntsman-in-Training this suit off the peg suit fitted him like a dream. As Neo tied the tie in a simple knot so that he could see what his complete outfit looked like she continued observing what he wore. The inner lining of the suit was the colour of red wine and it played really well with the colour of the suit. His shoes were a very deep maroon colour. They weren't black, nor were they burgundy but more like a dark enough red that brought the lining and the shoes together subtly, although the black would have worked well with the colour of the buttons on the suit.

~ _There, all done_ ~ she announced as she grabbed Fox's tie to pull him into a kiss, something he clearly wasn't expecting, then she took a step back to let him look at himself in the outfit in full. He looked so different, he looked _completely_ different. But he liked it. And though Neo loved the colours they gave him for the shirt and tie, a deep blue shirt and a tie to match the lining, the mute had other ideas.

"So, what's the expert's verdict?"

~ _Well as good as I think you look **in** the suit,_~ she teased, ~ _you're very lucky that we're in a public place and that there's a man on the other side of the room, because I would have been very happy to find out how good you looked **out** of it._~

~ _What's wrong with that? I wouldn't have stopped you,_ ~ he teased back.

~ _Oh, so you'd rather we had some fun here in this place - where we could potentially get caught and thrown out - over a nice comfy dorm room back at Beacon, that I have been told will most definitely be empty of our teammates until early evening?_ ~

~ _Well when you put it like that..._ ~ he grinned, kissing her again and biting on her bottom lip ever so slightly causing the woman's temperature to rise a little at his taunt, ~ _you might have convinced me._ ~

~ _You're just trying to make it as difficult as possible for me to not strip you down and bang you right here, aren't you?_ ~

~ _Maybe._ ~ he winked. "So, the verdict?" he asked aloud, bringing the conversation away from the bedroom.

' _~'ll tell you, but you'll need to relay some information, opinions and the like to the gentleman outside, if that's okay._ ~

"Of course hun." Once they'd deliberated, Fox came outside to speak with the man who was dealing with them. "We'll take the suit and the shoes, that's for certain. But could you possible send someone in there who knows Sign to speak with my girlfriend, or if you could just take the tablet in there, she wants to have someone to show her what you have on offer in terms of colours of shirts and ties, but she doesn't want the surprise ruined for me."

"Of course sir." Without even pausing for thought the man took the tablet with him into the room were Neo was currently waiting.

"Well," he said to himself a little disappointed as he wondered back to the changing room to wait for the new clothes, "that means there's no one here who knows Sign then."

The man left the room after Neo had chosen the colours she wanted Fox to wear, then turned her attention back to her Scroll. It had two messages on it, one arriving not too shortly after the first - must have been distracted by a certain someone's dashing good looks to notice it coming in.

**_2 Unread Messages_ **

**Velvet:  
_I don't think she was too keen on that_**

**Coco:  
You bitch, you promised me! :'( **

Neo replied to the second person. She was taken aback at the request initially and naturally she was curious as to why. She thought it would have been some massively elaborate reason, but instead it was quite simply:

"I spend too much time looking at Velvet's ass to notice Fox's. Plus a picture will last longer." Made sense.

**Neo:  
_It's gonna be a maybe, if we're not having too much fun and I forget :P_**

She decided that she wasn't going to look at her Scroll anymore, so she put it back in her pocket and left it there. Fox came out of the changing room once again and made a beeline for Neo, ignoring the mirrors completely.

"What about this one?"

~ _And we have a winner,_ ~ she grinned, pleased with her choices. ~ _Let's get this paid for now, we'll grab some casual clothes on the way to the till._ ~

"Sure thing Ni."

**~000~**

True to their word, on the way to the till they picked up some very basic casualwear for Fox; a few t-shirts, some trousers, a hoodie and a pair of casual footwear, before heading back to Beacon. They made it to the dorm and Fox had to shoot off somewhere very quick. In that time, Neo threw her sundress off and her bra, sent a single message to CVY, and sat waiting on the bed. When Fox came back, he saw Neo and almost instantly mirrored her state of undress. They locked lips by the end of the bed, then Neo pulled away and Fox let the question on his mind come to the forefront and onto his tongue.

"Is this what you were looking for last time? For me to see you?" She nodded rather sheepishly, something that was a little foreign for Fox to see on his girlfriend. To calm her fears and doubts, her leaned across again and whispered in her ear, "I love you Neo. I think you look beautiful." And then, she leaned back so that her spine lay against the mattress, his body following her down.

Neo's message pinged through on all of their Scrolls at once.

**Neo:  
_Tweet, tweet! Birds are in the nest_**

"Oh, our little Fox cub is finally growing up," Coco sighed, pretending to be overly emotional and wiping a non-existent tear from her eye. The giant raised an eyebrow at her actions.

"You have a very weird way of showing your emotions sometimes Coco."

The team gunner simply glared back at him. "It's part of my charm."

**~000~**

CVY returned to their dorm that evening to see Fox dozing off under the covers of his own bed, shirtless (what they assumed would also mean pants-less and underwear-less), and with a noticeable grin on his face. Neo left the bathroom in a hoodie a few sizes too big for her and spotted the three, a grin forming on her own face as she saw them. Coco walked up to her and gave her a quick little pat on the back as congratulations. The smaller woman then took her Scroll out and showed the team leader a couple of pictures she had recently taken, all of them showcasing the bare behind of her partner. Coco gave the woman a quick kiss on the forehead, then she smirked as she wrapped an arm around her as they both stared at the exhausted boy in front of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is what I am referring to when I say "Lewd-Lite". Nothing happens that is overtly NSFW, it's just implied.


	29. Buried Truths

Once Fox had been woken up from his little nap, the five of them all got ready for their evening out. He and Yatsuhashi waited a while before they got started, as they didn't need as much time. When they left, they passed Professor Ozpin on their way to the ship into Vale.

"Good evening Team CFVY, I trust you are all doing well. And hello to you too, Ms Neo - nice to see you again. Though I am surprised at how long you have been spending with these students." The comment raised a little concern with the group, one Coco wanted to clear before they continued on.

"Sir I-" she started, but was stopped before she could continue by Ozpin raising a hand.

"I have a feeling I know what you are about to say or ask, so I must tell you that, at present, I cannot give you definitive answer. But the plot of the story that is our lives may dictate that we meet again soon. For now, enjoy your meal." With a sip from his cup, he walked away. Once he'd rounded the corner completely, CFVYN started walking again. Neo wasn't going to let what he said slide.

"{ _Okay, is he always that cryptic and foreboding? Because I don't understand how he runs Beacon with things like that._ "} Neo never quite knew how to get all the frustration and confusion out when she signed, but sometimes she had to make do.

"Most people think he doesn't run Beacon." Coco looked around to make sure there weren't any impressionable underclassmen around, but decided to Sign anyway so that the vast majority of the group could understand - Fox was still lacking in that knowledge but he could learn the basics before classes began again. {" _Most of us think Glynda does all the hard work while he sits up in his tower watching us all, sipping his tea or coffee or whatever it is in that cup of his and spouting half-truths and part of the facts._ "}

"Whilst I _do_ enjoy sitting watching my students from above," Ozpin chimed in, having heard their entire non-verbal conversation and appeared out of nowhere again, frightening anything from a shift in eye colour to an "Eep!" to a full on scream from one of the students, a feat the Headmaster never would have expected from someone like Yatsuhashi, "I do feel the need to inform you that I in fact do a lot more than what you and a large portion of this school think I do."

"How did you-?"

"As Ms Adel can attest to, once every three weeks I will call a team leader's meeting to discuss the progress of each team and how they feel their team is advancing in their studies, their combat skills and as a cohesive unit, and what methods they have used to try and rally them together; none, I must say, have ever topped yours Ms Adel in terms of effectiveness." The praise made the fashionista smile with pride. "Equally, I do not think I have ever suggested a method never be replicated by any other team so much. The first years that tried to replicate your 'CAME Games' were in the Infirmary for at least a week each."

"There's a reason they're call _CAME_ Games..." she muttered under her breath in frustration. "'Coco Adel', not-"

"Yes I quite understand the meaning behind its name Ms Adel; you _did_ tell me yourself when I first asked about your methods."

"Oh... yeah."

"Besides all of that, I need to read through reports from said leaders regarding of any sort of mission they undertake. Speaking of which." He grabbed an envelope from his jacket pocket and handed it to Coco. She took it with caution, which the green clad man sighed at. "Oh come now, why would I do something nefarious against my own students?"

* * *

"Achoo!"

"Hey, you alright Pyr?"

"I'm fine Jaune, thank you. I don't know what came over me."

"Probably just dust floating around."

"Yeah, that's it." She glanced around the room though, something didn't feel right.

* * *

"No," Ozpin clarified, "this is just payment for your report on the Nuckelavee Grimm. Professor Port was most interested and amazed at your collective ability to take it down, and the fact you were in the right frame of minds to think about documenting it as well. You were quite the leader Ms Adel."

"Whilst I'd love to take credit for that sir, that was all Neo. She was the one who was taking the photos and getting us to attack it certain ways to show off everything it could do - I played no part in that."

"Well, many congratulations to you, Ms Neo; whilst you all kept quite a level head during that whole encounter, you had enough sense to capture what it can do. I applaud your resolve." The woman smiled and shrugged, clearly not wanting to be the centre of attention at the moment. Fox smiled too and wrapped his arm around her waist, showing his support. "That payment in there should at the very least cover you for the meal you are planning to go on tonight, which I must say you all look extremely striking for. Now, I shan't keep you any longer - have fun with your evening." The quintet all turned to walk away again, but Ozpin called once more. "Mr Alistair, if I may have one more word with you and Ms Neo, please?"

"We won't be long, we promise. Go on ahead." Coco, Velvet and Yatsuhashi all nodded and started walking away, leaving Fox and Neo with the Headmaster.

"I wanted to congratulate you on your sight Mr Alistair, Professor Goodwitch told me about it after her... early morning call-out, shall we say?"

"Sorry sir, emotions were high that morning."

"I understand. I take it that means the artefact will no longer be bothering you then?"

"It... seems that way, yes."

"Excellent. How did you decide by the way?" Fox knew it, there was always something that Ozpin never mentioned about anything.

"Decide what sir?"

"What the wish was going to be."

"We didn't sir; Neo made the wish whilst we were drifting off to sleep a couple of nights ago. I had no say in it."

"Is that so?" he questioned with a raised eyebrow and a knowing look, something that slightly unnerved the two of them and also caught Velvet's attention upon hearing it. "Because it was my belief that you both needed to have the same wish and desire for this to work." He smiled, offering no more than that as he turned away and walked off. "Enjoy your meal." The pair of them said nothing and did nothing for a few seconds before slowly making their way down the path to catch up with the rest of the group.

~ _Fox, what does he mean?_ ~

"No idea, but let's not worry about that now, whatever 'it' is. Let's just enjoy ourselves." She nodded in agreement, but deep down she was going to get the answer she wanted. What did he mean by what he said?

* * *

The five of them didn't have to walk very far from where they were dropped off to get to the restaurant they were going to. The way they all looked and moved down the street turned many heads. They looked like celebrities, and they played up to it when they wanted to.

Fox was in his suit and shoes from earlier, but instead of the navy blue shirt and maroon tie they gave him, he was instead wearing the colours that Neo had picked out for him; a pink shirt with a light cream tie, all rounded off with a vibrant orange pocket hankie with slight golden decorations. It all matched Neo, who was wearing a dress that stopped just below knee length. It was a soft pink in colour with faux gems decorating the neck line like a necklace of dark brown. She also wore ivory coloured gloves that went up to the middle of her forearm that were very plain, if not for the newly added band of vibrant orange that Neo had sewn around the bottom end - the same colour and pattern as Fox's pocket hankie.

Velvet wore the dress Coco bought for her, whilst Coco wore the gown that Neo made for her - albeit with her weapon attached to the back as well. Yatsuhashi wore a charcoal grey tweed looking 3 piece suit that he complimented it with a muted sky blue shirt and an olive green knitted tie, a tie clip and, had the rota been kept from before, his Greatsword. Team CFVY implemented a rule that says two members should always be carrying their weapons on them in the event that something happens; and unfortunately for them, it was supposed to be Yatsuhashi's turn on this occasion, something he didn't mind. They decided instead to let it settle with Fox taking his weapon instead, as Fulcrum would definitely draw a lot of attention, whereas Sharp Retribution in their retracted configuration wouldn't so much.

They approached the restaurant doors and stepped inside, taking in the scenery. The walls were decorated with fine art from across the Kingdoms, the high ceiling was also painted with a mural of what looked like epic moments from throughout The Great War. Yatsuhashi and Velvet had seen that mural before elsewhere, as had Neo back when she lived with her family on Atlas, but the remaining pair stared at it in amazement; particularly Fox. Seeing was still such a new concept to him, and to know that humans and Faunus could create such masterpieces put him in a state of awe. They were escorted to their table after about five minutes of waiting. Yatsuhashi sat with his back to the wall, on his left was Coco, then Velvet, Neo, then Fox before it completed its circle and ended up back at the tall teammate. The waiter came and gave them all their menus and took their drinks.

"Thank you. And if I may, congratulations on your finding your Mate." The man smiled a genuine smile, his moustache rising with his lips. "How long, if you'd like to share?"

"Only a couple of days," Velvet replied with a glowing smile on her face, a further acceptance of their status as Mates bringing her even further out of her shell.

"Well then, as part of our terms of service, I shall inform you that all parties with patrons that have Mated or been engaged within the past 7 days shall receive a 5% discount on their meal. Have a lovely evening." He finished with a quick bow as he wondered to fetch and deliver their drink orders.

"Wow, did you know they offered that here?" Coco asked, a small grin forming.

"None of us have ever needed to know Coco," Yatsuhashi calmly reminded her, "why would we know?"

"...Neo says it doesn't matter anyway, we're here to enjoy ourselves and have a good night out; the discount is a bonus."

"Very true."

"...But how would they know if it was more than seven days?" Coco pondered. No one really had an answer for that.

The chatter from other people in the restaurant was at a pleasant and tolerable level. Team CFVYN chatted about whatever subjects came to mind, laughing and having fun as their drinks were delivered, their orders taken and their food presented to them. Fox ordered a large chicken burger, Neo and Yatsuhashi had a pasta dish, Coco wanted to try their lasagne, and Velvet settled with a chicken Caesar salad. Their merriment continued long after appetites were appeased and bills were paid - surprisingly cheap even before the discount, considering there were five of them. They left and wondered around Vale for a few minutes, but quickly grew bored and instead decided to call an end there and head back to the dorm, where they could do something else. As they wondered towards Beacon, their outfits considerably less formal than when they first set out, the mute gradually eased off the speed so that she and Fox were separated from the main three, something they either don't care about or they were told about. Or the unforeseen third option of 'they didn't notice'.

"Neo, you want to talk?"

~ _Yeah._ ~ Much to his surprise, she didn't offer him any more than that. Fox knew that she couldn't speak anymore, but that brought a very specific quiet that he had grown accustomed to over the past few months. This was different, it was silence. The kind of silence that he hadn't heard from her since the bathroom back in the shop.

"Ni?" The second wave of silence was longer and louder than the first. It was jarring and, in all honesty, it frightened the student. He wanted to speak again, but his body was telling him to lay back and let her speak of her own accord now, however long that may take; she _was_ the one who wanted to talk to him so she couldn't just not talk. He waited, but that didn't make it any less painful.

~ _What'd he mean?_ ~

"Um, you're going to have to be a little bit more specific than that hun. What did _who_ mean?"

~ _Ozpin!_ ~ she snapped, shooting him an angry look for not putting the pieces together. This may not have been the first time she'd given him the look but it was most definitely the first time he'd seen it; he'd prayed that this would be the last time. ~ _What did Ozpin mean when he said we needed "the same wish and desire for this to work"?_ ~ Fox drew a blank, standing there with his mouth open and no words escaping his lips. ~ _Answer me!_ ~

"I don't know!" he bounced back in a panic. All three other members heard his words and turned to see what the couple were doing. Fox looked scared and Neo was standing there with an aggressive look on her face. They walked back towards them, but actively stayed away from everything to let them settle it themselves, just within earshot.

"We'll step in if things get too out of control, not before. This looks like something they need to sort on their own." The taller and shorter student both nodded at their leader and waited out of the way, Coco with her arm closest to the handle of her weapon resting on her hip for quick deployment time.

~ _You've got to know something, you told me earlier not to worry about it then._ ~

"But I genuinely don't anything ab-" she cut him off, not in the mood for excuses.

~ _Well start guessing!_ ~ He recoiled once again, scared.

"Neo, what has brought this on? Why are you being like this?" He got nothing but an angry stare. Sighing with realisation that he wasn't going to coax that out of her unless he provided results, Fox thought hard about it. "'The same desire...' what _exactly_ did you wish for again? Like exactly, word for word."

~ _I wish you could see them._ ~

"Right, so you wanted me to be able to see so that's what you actively wished for..." his silence gave him a little time to think in his head - even in there was completely quiet. After a minute or two, his eyes widened as the revelation hit him. "Oh, that must be it..."

~ _Spill._ ~ The ice cream girl advanced on him, the three on the side lines closed the gap as well, but unlike the rest of them Fox did not move. When Neo got close enough she was surprised by a sudden pair of arms wrapping round her in an embrace. She was angry at Fox for not telling her, but something about how this hug felt made it seem like he was... sorry? ~ _Fox?_ ~

"I've been lying to you." He glanced up at his teammates, who were now well within earshot, as tears began forming in the corner of his copper brown eyes. "I've lied to all of you."

"Fox, what are you talking about? What have you not told us?" Yatsuhashi sounded slightly hurt at the prospect of his teammate not sharing information with the rest of the team.

"I'm sorry Yatsu, I never said this to any of you because it was just a stupid dream." The hug broke and he stepped away from everyone else, back to them all. "The only other people who know are Professors Ozpin and Goodwitch because I mentioned it during the interview. I have always wanted to see." The words fought against his throat as he tried to continue, but all that came was sobs. CVYN walked round to the other side to look at Fox, and they saw him with tears running down his face, new eyes red from the emotions, the shattered moonlight illuminating the paths they took down his face.

~ _Fox I am so sorry. I was just reacting and lashing out. Please, continue - but in your own time._ ~ To comfort and ground him, Neo took a hold of his hand, her gloves long since removed so the touch was much more intimate. It took him a while, but eventually he calmed down enough to get the rest of his reason out.

"Everyone does it. If you're deaf, part of you always wants to hear; if you're completely blind or colour blind, part of you always wants to see what you're missing. I asked them in the interview if there was anyway an Aura could heal things like broken eyes in the same way they could repair broken bones. They wanted to know why, and I responded with 'I don't want to drag my team down because of my lack of sight'. It didn't matter to them, they had faith in me, but also told me that there was no known way for sight to be repaired like that, not for long term, permanent blindness. But I've always had hope. Then the Parchment of Volentes came into play, and part of me _wanted_ to touch it and get my wish, but I shoved that back into the dark depths of my mind. Then I did, and it never occurred to me to think about it actually - I had died and I was trying to readjust. I guess the thought never left, because a few weeks ago the thought came back. But I thought to myself, 'I don't know where Neo is, and that's just selfish', and to this day I still feel that."

~ _Fox, that isn't selfish at all! I understand how you feel - I wanted that for me too. But then I realised that when I can talk, Neo doesn't exist anymore. I'd be Orchid again. So don't ever think you were being selfish. I could talk at one point, you have never truly been able to see._ ~

"Yeah, but it still feels wrong - you could have had your old life back."

~ _I don't want it back if it means I lose you._ ~ Fox gasped at the words he just heard echoing through his head. Unsure he heard them right, he blinked. ~ _You are the most important thing in the world to me right now, and you always will be. You understood what it meant to have something that most people take for granted missing from your life, and I guess I was drawn to that. Even now that you can see, you still have that experience. But you and I can talk without the use of Sign, and that's the second most amazing thing about this all._ ~

"Scared to ask, but what's first?"

' _~he fact I found someone so genuinely nice and trustworthy and honest on this hellhole of a planet._ ~ He smiled a tear stained smile and hugged her tight.

"Sap."

~ _Love you too. But anyway, the wish._ ~

"Right of course." He broke the hug to look at the rest of his team, but still kept an arm slung around her shoulder. "We needed the same desire for the wish to work. When Neo made it, the artefact must have sensed that somewhere deep inside was this urge to want sight. So it deemed it a shared desire and it granted it. It's what I can think of at least."

"That does make sense." Velvet grinned at her teammate as she took a step forward. "You are my brother Fox, I've always looked up to you. Nothing you have said has been selfish, it all has been or can be justified. I know I'm not mad at you."

"Thanks Velvet." He ushered her in and gave her a quick hug, surprised to feel two more pairs of arms trap him in the hug.

"I am with Velvet, your reasons were just and we could never be angry at you for wanting that of yourself."

"Thank you guys." After the hugging had stopped, they all made their way back to the dorm. Neo quickly mentioned something to Fox as they approached the room.

~ _I meant it by the way, you are the most important thing to me._ ~

"I know Neo, and I love you for being so true-"

~ _Even ice cream._ ~ Fox blinked again, still not sure if that gesture ever made things easier to understand.

~ _What?_ ~

~ _If, Oum forbid, there was a situation where I had to choose between you and a lifetime's supply of ice cream, I'd chose you every time._ ~

~ _I mean that much to you?_ ~

~ _Honestly, that's me lowballing it._ ~ The kiss she received was slightly unexpected, but it said more than any string of words ever could about how thankful he was for that remark. As they parted, she reiterated her point. ~ _Every single time._ ~ Fox beamed. He felt the same way too; they may have been forced together through some magical and crazy circumstances, but he would never change anything if it meant that this never happened.


	30. Actions of the Past...

Fox lay on his bed the next morning scrolling through his Scroll and discovering all the little features the device had. When you're deprived of sight, the small things most people take full advantage of are all new experiences for him. There were games on here, there were things that could show the Team's Aura levels, there were maps - he'd made a mental note to mark his tree in the park as a favourite on there - loads of stuff. And probably the best part was being able to communicate with people over vast distances without needing to have the words shouted out at him by an automated voice.

**Neo:  
_I promise we won't be long, we've just got some business to attend to_**

**Fox:  
_I know. Still doesn't stop me missing you. x_**

**Neo:  
_I miss you too. x_**

_**But you know how much Coco wanted to do this, I'm just helping her get things started.** _

_**Just keep Velvet occupied for the day and we ought to have everything ready by then.** _

**Fox:  
_Will do. Good luck, and have fun! x_**

**Neo:  
_You too hun. x_**

Despite how simple all that was, it made Fox so happy knowing that he could have a conversation with one person without everyone else in the general area hearing what was being said, especially when the person in question was a Faunus girl with rabbit ears, and therefore was someone with really good hearing.

"Right," Fox declared, getting Velvet's attention, "they said they may be a while, so Neo said that we should do something to pass the time together. You have anything you want to do today?" She thought about it for a moment before answering.

"Well, there is something new at the Museum I've wanted to see." Fox's expression dropped upon hearing that place again. "Before you start Fox, we'd be going as visitors, there'd be no plots to steal anything and you won't die this time. Just a couple of friends on a day out." His eyes darted around, trying to plan for the inevitable and prepare for the worst... again. "Fox it will be fine, trust me." Try as she might, his face didn't show any signs of improvement. "If it makes you feel any better, do you want us both to take our weapons rather than just one of us?"

"...Yeah... that'd ease my mind... at least, a little bit." She smiled a caring smile, knowing that this may be a risky move - but it was well over two months ago, nearly approaching three months, since that night and a lot of good has happened from it.

"I'll be right by your side, you won't have to worry." Rising to her feet to grab a light jacket, she ushered Fox to do the same. "Come on; if we leave now, we can grab our weapons from the lockers and catch the next flight there." The pair readied themselves and headed out the door. "See you later Yatsu."

"Enjoy yourselves," the tall team member said, not having moved from his meditation position on the edge of his bed, or even opened his eyes. He was perfectly happy getting some well needed mental training in whilst he had the time to do so and the dorm to himself for a while. As the two originally sheltered teammates wondered down the corridors towards their lockers, Fox pulled out his Scroll to message Neo again.

**Fox:  
_We're heading out for the day, so the dorm is yours and Yatsu's when you get back. x_**

**Neo:  
_Sweet! x_**

**_Going anywhere nice?_ **

**Fox:  
_Velvet said she wanted to go see something new at the Museum, so we're heading there..._**

Neo didn't take too long to respond...

**Neo:  
_Good x_**

...but if he was being completely honest, what she said to him wasn't exactly what he had in mind her answer to that news would be.

 **Fox:  
** _**Good?** _

**Neo:  
_Well I could tell that place is going to bring back some bad memories of that night, but you'd need to face them at some point._**

**_I_ ** **_trust Velv, she's not stupid._ **

**_Maybe that is the reason she's taking you there, who knows but her?_ **

**_Relax and enjoy it, I'll see you when you get back. x_ **

Sighing, he replied with a grin on his face.

**Fox:  
_I will do my best. For you. x_**

**Neo:  
_I expect a souvenir, that way I know you went in_**

She was crafty, but now he didn't have an excuse not to go. Not feeling the need to reply, he put his Scroll back into his pocket and continued walking with Velvet to their lockers.

* * *

"Well, _he_ didn't last very long," the gentleman joked. "Already found someone new, I see?" His practical jeans were a shade darker than he wore last time, the shirt was now a vibrant blue and the waistcoat was a strong earthy brown with a gold chained pocket watch hanging from the left side pocket. Neo smacked his arm in a playful manner, but still hard enough so that he realised that the joke wasn't very funny. Neo used very basic Sign to hammer home the fact she and Coco were not a couple.

{" _Look. Her Shoulder. Mark. Mine. Empty._ "} The man did as he was instructed, because who would honestly want to get on the bad side of a woman like this, and looked at both girls' shoulders. He noticed the Mate Mark on Coco's but that Neo's was empty.

"I'm sorry Neo, I was only pulling your leg. I take it you're her friend then?" Coco lowered her sunglasses and stepped forward.

"Yup, friend and potential future teammate, providing everything goes through alright."

"Ooo, 'Teammate'? So are you deciding to settle down then Neo?" The ice cream girl blushed slightly, unintentionally twirling the end of the brown side of her hair at the accidental double meaning in that question. Yeah, she was hopefully going to be staying at Beacon. But also she hoped she could spend her life with Fox. "But enough on that; what'll it be today? Another dress? Or something different?"

"We're doing something for my girlfriend, something small as I'm being taught how to do this by this amazing little woman. I take it she came here earlier this week?"

"Indeed she did, with her boyfriend to get some things for a dress."

"Oh right. Did you help her then?"

"No madam, she knew what she wanted on her own."

"Well I want to thank you anyway; the dress was superb and it fit me perfectly."

"It was for you? I bet you looked amazing in it; Neo doesn't disappoint, let me tell you that." Neo felt the glance coming from Coco at what the man had said. The mute debunked whatever idea Coco had insinuated with a shake of the head. "So what was the plan for your girlfriend?"

"Like I said, we're starting simple so I guess something like..." she turned her attention to Neo, "what'd you think, a cushion? That be a good starting point?" The small woman nodded. "A cushion."

"Very well. You have a look through over there and see what colours and fabrics you want for the decorations, I'll go with Neo to get the perfect material for the cushion itself. Won't be a mo'." Coco wondered off in the direction he pointed, whilst he and Neo took their leave in the other direction. "A cushion? Is that all?"

{" _Simple. Easy. Quick._ "}

"I suppose so. I would have thought you'd throw her in at the deep end, give her a big challenge right from the get go." Neo shook her head.

{" _Special. Don't mess up._ "}

"You know best Neo." A triumphant grin came across her face and she continued on with a proud nod of the head.

* * *

The Vale History Museum. Two confirmed deaths on the premises: Mr Fox Alistair, Ms Neopolitan 'Neo'. And now, one of those two were about to re-enter its walls. Fox looked at the imposing structure from the bottom of its front steps.

"Y'know Velvet, it even kind of _looks_ like a tomb from here."

"Fox, would you stop that. This is not your tomb, and nothing bad is going to happen." The Faunus grew a little weary of hearing Fox mentioning how the place was effectively his tomb on the journey over. "Now come on."

They climbed the first lot of stairs in no time and were in through the front door. Any worries Fox had previously completely disappeared through that gateway as he observed the vast array of historical items on display, and this was just the entrance lobby.

"Hey Velvet?"

"Yeah Fox?"

"Can I take back what I said first time we came here? I think I'd like a guided tour." The Rabbit girl giggled at his comment as he remained staring all around him and gawping at the sights.

"It'd be my pleasure." She grabbed his arm. "Come on, there's plenty of rooms to look at besides the main hall." They paid to continue on, then made their way through to the newly rebuilt Faunus exhibit on the ground floor, Scrolls at the ready to take photos where they pleased. It was completely fixed because Glynda had come here shortly after arriving back from her little break, but she did so at the cost of Team CFVY's afternoon's for the week afterwards - two hours of Goodwitch Detentions for five days is more than enough for most sane people to realise that they shouldn't be doing that sort of thing. Her attention was immediately drawn to the history of the Rabbit Faunus, naturally, as she learned more about her own heritage.

From the Faunus room, they went upstairs and looked through the Mythological Wing. Velvet recounted stories around all of the tales she was told when she was a kid; about how there were Four Girls who went to see a Wizard, who used his powers to turn them into the Fabled Four Maidens, about how there were Two Brothers who fought for control but joined forces when they created their last item together - humans, about relics and so on. Fox was fascinated throughout all this time. He'd heard these stories before, and he'd pictured how they'd looked in his head, but never had he seen other people's physical interpretations of the events.

Past the Myths came the Grimm. The room was much darker than every other one - all of the bright lights of the previous rooms were replaced with eerie red ones, the windows were all obscured and the room itself just felt a little bit colder. For Velvet, the cold was the only thing that meant anything to her, taking her night vision into consideration. The tour guide act she was putting on disappeared as she realised the room she was entering.

"Actually Fox, can we come back to this room? There's a-" her sentence was cut short by a man pushing past the two of them, his hands never moving from the lapels on the oversized coat he wore. As more people continued heading their way they had no choice but to follow the surge into the room. "Oh no, and I wanted to come here at the end..."

"Why, what's so special about here that warrants it?"

"It's a surprise" she teased. "I wanted everyone to come and see it too, but I guess I'll just need to take photos instead."

"Playing the pronoun game Velvet; what did you want us to see?"

"Just hold your horses!" She realised what she said and let out a little chuckle, something that made Fox question why a few words like that made her laugh. She showed them round the room in a rather odd manner, jumping from the stories of the Grimm to models of the smaller Grimm, then back to stories, all in an effort to avoid a certain point very strategically until the last possible moment. When they couldn't avoid it any longer, Velvet led her friend up to the newest model in the room. "I'd been looking to see when it had arrived and try to get at least a couple of us down here to see it in person."

"Got to say, a lot uglier than I imagined it being."

"Well, you heard what it sounded like, did you honestly expect it to look prettier than it sounded?"

"I suppose... so is this where you wanted to take some photos?" The raising of the Scroll was all the indication he needed to strike a silly pose.

* * *

Whilst they wondering through the corridors to get closer to their dorm back at Beacon, Coco's Scroll buzzed in her pocket. She reached to grab it and pulled it out to see what it was.

"Oh, it's Velvet."

 **_5 files attached. Click_ ** **_here_ ** **_to view_ **

The team leader did, and her face broke into a grin. Neo scooted over to the seat next to her to view what she was looking at. The first image was of Fox pointing and "screaming" at a life-sized Nuckelavee model in the Vale Museum. The next was of Velvet pulling her rabbit ears down to her head like she was shielding herself from its scream, and the third was Fox taking a photo of both of them with the nightmare Grimm behind them. The fourth and fifth photos were of the next written on the plaque at the base of the Grimm model. The only thing that mattered to them was what was focussed on in the final photo as opposed to the entirety of the plaque on the fourth one.

'...first accurate and reliable documented description of the Grimm, along with the first official death of one, was made by second year students from Beacon Academy in Vale. The five piece team worked together to defeat the Anomaly Grimm, so called due to there only ever being one recorded, and they did so with vigour an...'

" _Five piece team..._ "

"Well Neo, Ozpin's _got_ to let you stay now - its Museum official." The woman face lit up with a smile, so much so that there were even tears forming in her eyes. "Hey, no tears alright? They stain the material, don't they?" The tears subsided when Neo rolled her eyes with a grin, shaking her head at the _fashionista's_ lack of knowledge on materials.

{" _You still have a lot to learn Coco._ "}

"I never got to see this side of the family business, okay?" she defended. "I just saw and modelled the end products."

{" _Sure. Now, let's get it started._ "}

* * *

After their photos with the Nuckelavee, they made their way up the stairs again to the Great War Wing - the section Fox remembered first mentioning to his team that they weren't alone in the Museum that fateful night. He wondered away from Velvet to a stop in the room, shutting his eyes and bursting his Aura out. The sensation that once seemed like second nature to him now started to feel almost alien, but at the same time it still felt very much like home. The corners of his mouth were pulled upwards into a ghost of a smile as Velvet found him and approached.

"Everything okay over here Fox?" His eyes eased open as he looked at his teammate.

"This was it Velvet. The place I first sensed that girl." He looked at the spot where he stood, that small area that was no different to the area next to it, yet completely different in terms of significance to him. "It's the spot my life changed." She gave him a quick hug to remind him that it was all for the best in the end; even if it didn't start that way.

They explored the rest of the Great War Wing with Velvet still explaining a lot of what she knew to Fox; the roles were reversed on a couple of occasions, one being when he told her a story of how his distant relation fought in a particular battle of the War that wasn't well documented because of the sudden arrival of Grimm. Armies were depleted as is, then to have a third party join in - and that third party being wave upon wave of Creatures of Grimm - meant that casualties consisted of every man and Faunus that fought, and most of them were instantly fatal or fatal at a later stage. Both armies were lucky that some of their forces made it back, so to keep the assault from being a complete suicide mission and instead downgrade it to full blown massacre - something that honestly didn't sound that much better. Both sides also agreed to let the story be told by those who survived, rather than the masses knowing through one side's propaganda news; it was one of the very few things that the Kingdoms agreed on during the War. The other information he told Velvet was that the spot he was stood in now was where he knocked his assailant out - at least he thought he did, he wasn't around to see she'd recovered enough to stumble her way to freedom - a fact that didn't seem to impress her.

Velvet made a much better effort to avoid one room altogether than she did with the Grimm exhibition as they went upstairs one last time and came to the Kingdom Wings. They spent a fair bit of time in here, as they realised that unfortunately they did have school to return to sooner than they would have wanted, and in their final semesters as second years they would have a test on the Four Kingdoms, so they used this opportunity to gather research on them but especially Vacuo and Atlas, as neither of the two present hailed from either of those Kingdoms. Once they were done there, Velvet said how she believed them to be done. Fox disagreed.

"I know you've been avoiding it," he told her. "It's not as easy as it may have been in the past for you to get me to miss the fact that there was an entire _section_ of the Museum we missed out of the floor below." Velvet suddenly went a little sheepish, rubbing her palms together nervously and focussing on anything except Fox. "Velv, I understand. I know you probably wanted me to go there eventually, but maybe not today - right? Well I say, I'm here now, let's do it." He took off towards the exhibition they'd passed on the floor below, the Faunus following.

The room wasn't any different from the others, with the exception of the Grimm displays. The displays were no different in terms of design or general layout - name and plaque at the front, item behind it. In all fairness, the Historical Wing was fairly uninteresting in comparison to everywhere else; at least they had some knowledge that they theoretically could use in the future if they needed to. Here, nothing of the sort. The only interesting thing about this room was the fact that two people had "died" in here, but not for long. The boy stood by the spot on the floor he remembered landing on, the last place he remembered being. The memory of his scream still resonated somewhere in the back of his mind, as did the fact that the pain was just as unbearable as he dreamt it being. The broken display meant for the Parchment of Volentes had since been removed, though nothing else had replaced it as of yet. There was nothing but memories that linked them to that day anymore.

"See? I'm fine Velvet, and there's nothing here to worry about."

"Sorry..." she muttered, barely audible over the chatter of the other people in the Museum. "I just assumed it was something that would make you want to avoid this place like the business end of a Taijitu." Fox's brow furrowed.

"Velvet, both ends of a Taijitu are the busine- oh, I see what you did there." The Faunus giggled at him, bumping into him with her hips.

"Come on, you dumb Fox. _Now_ we're done."

"Sure." A thought occurred to him before he set off; he took a photo of the floor and sent it to his girlfriend.

 **Fox:  
** **_1 file attached. Click_ ** **_here_ ** **_to view_ **

_**The first place we met. You died right here. x** _

**Neo:  
_Charming ;)_**

**_Also get Velv to give you camera lessons, you suck at taking photos :P_ **

**Fox:**  
**_That's just mean._ **

They made a quick stop to the Gift Shop on the way out, buying something for both their respective partners and girlfriends; Fox got a little snow globe for Neo and a small toy sword for Yatsuhashi - he assured Velvet the big guy could take a joke - whilst Velvet got a key chain with a fluffy, almost Chibi looking, Nuckelavee on it. Guess they couldn't wait to merchandise the crap out of the Grimm. But once they'd gone down the steps outside and across the street they were stopped by someone, a man in a large coat and a wide brimmed hat - the same one from earlier.

"Can I help you?" she asked.

"You could have, yes," the smooth voice replied. Velvet's ears twitched ever so slightly, trying to find the reason why it sounded so familiar and where she may have heard it before. "You could have saved me so much trouble had you co-operated."

"I have no idea what you're on about. Please, let us pass."

"I'd rather not. See, you took something that was mine, and I have friends now who would agree with that. We want the Parchment of Volentes back."

"Well tough," Fox bit back, defending his more timid friend, "if you wanted it for the wish, it's been granted." The man growled in frustration.

"Oh dear. That may actually prove worse for you than what I'd originally planned; it means I don't need to be nice." He removed his hat, revealing his face. Velvet gasped as she looked at a familiar face again, one she hoped they'd never have to see again. "There's no reason for me to keep you alive anymore," Daerk DeVanta sneered.


	31. ... Create Current Problems

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y'know I have "One Scene of Intense Violence" in the tags?  
> This is it.  
> Y'all've been warned.

Yatsuhashi's eyes snapped open as he took a quick and heavy intake of air. Coco and Neo had been going about their business around him and he was perfectly fine with that, so long as they understood that if they disturbed him they'd be hung upside down by him until such a time as they apologise or they pass out, whichever comes first. Neo was very happy taking that threat as (hopefully) just a joke and didn't want to disturb what he was doing anyway; she had someone to teach. But the boy's sudden noise and movement startled the sewing teacher and her student.

"Something feels wrong." Neo hadn't been around Yatsuhashi long enough to know what to do when something like this happens, but Coco had. And Coco knew that if Yatsuhashi interrupts his meditation for anything like this, then you listen to whatever he says.

"What's the matter Ya..." her thoughts strayed as she felt a surge of emotions flowing through her that weren't her own. Her Mark was glowing, so she knew that meant it was Velvet.

_Fear. Terror. Uncertainty._

"Fox and Velvet may be in trouble," he answered, completely ignoring the fact that his leader hadn't actually finished the question. The statement now caught and kept Neo's attention.

"So I've felt; Velvet's terrified! Why she so scared, where's Fox in all this?" She got out her Scroll and went straight to Maps. "I swear if he's left her alone..." The corners of her mouth ghosted upwards to a smile if only for a brief moment when she saw that the Faunus had instinctively turned her Scroll to 'Distress Beacon' so that her location was constantly being refreshed every second. "She's by the Museum..." she clicked a few buttons and got Fox's Scroll to register its location - effectively in the same place as Velvet's "...and so is he. Whatever's there is scaring her a lot even if Fox is there." No sooner had she finished speaking, Velvet's Scroll started moving fast. "They're running, we have to go!" She grabbed her beret and sunglasses - because she never went anywhere without them - and headed straight for the landing pads. Yatsuhashi threw on a t-shirt and some slightly more sensible trousers and Neo grabbed her parasol from the corner of the room, because she didn't feel like trusting it to be kept safe in a locker, then the pair of them were out following the fashionista.

Panting slightly from running down the stairs, Coco's Scroll began to ring. She picked up as soon as she saw who was calling.

"Velvet?"

* * *

Daerk DeVanta stood opposite the two students. His clean shaven and spotless skin from before was now covered in small scratches and stubble. The suit he wore underneath the large blue over coat was much baggier than the one Velvet recalled him wearing in the hospital, also it was a much more indigo colour - leaning ever so slightly towards plum in certain lights - with an open collared deep green shirt.

"If I don't need you alive, then I can have some fun before I kill you," he grinned. Velvet stealthily pressed a button on her Scroll from within her bag.

"What do you even want from us?" the boy demanded, standing between this madman and his friend, but feeling like he'd much rather be hiding behind someone else like Yatsu or Coco.

"There's no 'us' boy, just _you._ You and that other girl." The sudden appearance of a large serrated knife from Daerk's coat pocket sent shivers down their spines as they took a step back. "You've got the Parchment in you, I need it, and I'm going to kill you both so that I can get it!" The students took another step back in fear as he took an intimidating step forward, the once smooth-spoken man now teetering on crazy. "As since you're here little bunny, you can die too."

"What do sense Fox?" the Faunus whispered.

"At first glance, he's either got no Aura or he is masking it. He's clearly crazy to challenge two armed Huntsmen-in-Training, so I don't want to chance anything."

"Run?" she hushed.

"Run!" he shouted, forcing as much Aura as he dared through his body to his feet as he and Velvet shot themselves back and up, creating as large a gap as they possibly could manage. Fox landed first with a roll to spread the force of the impact up, then started running. Velvet spun herself round in the air and landed not soon after, but she instead took off with a second jump, still away from the man who'd threatened their very lives. Once she and Fox felt a little safer, she called Coco at the first opportunity she got when they were in a crowd. CFVYN's team leader was the first to speak.

_*Velvet?*_

"The man from the hospital is back," she informed her partner, cutting straight to the chase. "He wants to kill Fox to get the Parchment, and now he's after me too. We need your help, hurry! Please!" She didn't feel she needed to say anymore, so she hung up.

* * *

"Okay she really _is_ in trouble" Coco informed her teammates as they got close to her outside the main building.

{" _What's happened? Are they alright?_ "} Neo was understandably scared for not only her close friend and teammate's safety, but her boyfriend's too.

"Apparently Daerk DeVanta has made a sudden reappearance and is threatening to kill both Fox and Velvet now." The anger that came to the tall boy's face frightened Coco - even when DeVanta wanted their bodies back in the hospital, Yatsuhashi was calmer than this. What he was experiencing now was clearly unbridled rage. Both of Neo's hands went around and grabbed the boy's in an effort to ease the rage as Coco spoke. "Easy Yatsu, easy. We'll get there, don't worry. Call your weapon in, we'll catch the next flight into Vale and get there as soon as we possibly can."

"Oka,y" he managed. Within the minute two metal lockers landed right by them, revealing a Greatsword and a handbag. They turned to leave when they saw two airships departing from their bays.

"Shit!"

"And the next one isn't for another 10 minutes, even then we don't know where that'd take us." The grip on his sword was so tight that Neo was certain she was hearing the metal creaking from the pressure.

"We can't exactly run there either. There's no other way of getting there any faster, waiting or running are the only options." The words brought a memory screaming back to Neo's mind. She looked at the lockers, then at her team and grinned. "Neo?"

{" _Well... the only **safe** options._"}

* * *

Even with Aura reserves and an adrenaline high from potentially being chased, running was still a tiresome activity. The pair did their best to keep to the main streets, so that they'd have the best chance to blend into the crowd and escape unharmed. But it was kind of hard to do that when there wasn't really a crowd in the first place, just a few scattered bunches of people. Struggling to find their breath, Daerk slowly walked into their field of view once again. They'd been running for a good 5 minutes and he didn't even look like he broken into anything more than a brisk walk.

Velvet cursed as she spun around to see Daerk slowly making his way towards them, the students not gaining much distance between themselves and their pursuer. _How does that always happen?_

"Tsk, tsk, little ones. Running isn't going to do you any good." He spun his knife in his hands, mocking them. "It's not going to make this fun. I thought you were fighters. Why won't you fight?"

"Because... that's what you... want," the tan skinned boy panted.

"Maybe," came the reply, followed by a sadistic laugh. "But I'm not here to fight, I have friends for that." On cue, Fox and Velvet were both struck square in their backs with kicks that shot them closer to the mad scientist... on second thoughts, everything seems to make a little more sense about him now. Fox glanced up at his surprise attackers and saw three main people there; one girl with skin darker than his and mint green hair, a boy dressed in grey with the hair to match, and a woman wearing heels, a red dress and with eyes that looked like they were on fire strutting to join them and rounding off the trio. Behind they were a small group of people in white outfits and Grimm masks on, clearly members of The White Fang, something that Velvet noticed before anything else that made her lips dry and her ears fall back on her head in terror.

"It's nice to see you again little rabbit," Cinder mocked. "I never got the chance to properly hurt you before, but make no mistakes; I intend to correct that this time." She looked at the other student on the floor. "And you must be Fox. Watching you die is going to be so sweet, especially if I get to kill you in front of your little girlfriend." Fox's eyes narrowed in realisation as he felt the Aura's of the three. He thought he recognised them, this were Neo's "team" before she died, the ones from the Museum.

"Now now Cinder," Daerk reminded as he circled the two to join the criminals like a predator with its prey, "Foxy boy here is mine, as is that Neo girl." A smirk grew on the tattooed woman's face.

"Why of course, I wouldn't dare deny you that privilege."

"Leave them alone!" a booming voice called from above them. Necks looked up as three figures landed next to the two on the floor, with two metal lockers landing not too far away from them. Yatsuhashi turned and glared at the man beside them, anger building once again but his voice remained worryingly level. "I thought I made myself clear when I told you to never lay a finger on him again." Not threatened by his presence, Daerk simply chuckled.

"Oh, but I haven't! I haven't touched him, and I won't..." his grin turned evil as he raised the knife closer to his own head "...that's what the knife is for!" Team CFVYN now stood in a slight V formation with Fox at the head, their weapons at the ready to take on the ones opposing them.

"Neo, what a surprise!" Mercury said ironically. "I could lie and say that I never thought you would turn traitor on us, but we all know this was never your thing anyway, was it?" The colour of her eyes swapped sides so that her eyes and hair colour lined up perfectly. "What's wrong? Mad at me for telling the truth?" A sadistic smile grew on his face. "I know I can't kill you, but that doesn't mean I can't make you suffer first!"

The few citizens of Vale who were around had long since fled the scene, and they were in their right minds to do so. Not one of the five in the centre moved, they were instead waiting their opposition to strike first; even Yatsuhashi with his boiling rage.

"What are you waiting for?" Cinder asked, turning her head behind her. "Get them." One member of The White Fang group started charging, then a second, then the rest. Neo kept her eyes on this new man they called Daerk, but he just remained there smiling, even backing away a little. He wasn't going to be a problem at the moment, so she instead focussed on the three White Fang members heading straight for her. Of course they would be trying to eliminate her first, Cinder and the rest knew what she was capable of first-hand, so obviously they'd try and priorities keeping her occupied for as long as possible. That was always the plan; keep the ones they knew about occupied whilst they did their best to figure out the rest. _But come on guys!_ she thought to herself with confidence, _Five on one would have at least been interesting, but three?_

A deer Faunus was the first to get close to any of them, but they were almost literally swatted aside into a nearby brick wall by the towering student as he started advancing towards Daerk, his rage no longer being contained now there was a fight on hand. Lowering his stance and dragging the tip of the blade along the concrete, Yatsuhashi started running at the mad scientist.

"Yatsu wait!" Fox called, but was stopped from going to help when he had to prevent a flying kick from a Badger Faunus from striking him in the head. As the giant approached, he brought his second hand to the handle, then within five paces took a huge swing at the man. He didn't react at all; no blinking, no flinching, he just stood there - mostly because he knew that Cinder was going to step in between him and his aggressor and stop the attack, but not without sending a very hefty shockwave of energy out from the point of connection that knocked a couple of the physically weaker White Fang members off their feet. She held the Greatsword where it was with a floating layer of infused dust, though it was clearly a bit of a struggle for her. Still seething, Yatsuhashi put more into it, leaning his body towards the tattooed woman and forcing her to bring her other hand up to try and combat the strain. But Yatsuhashi was not only 1ft taller than her, but physically he was considerably stronger than her and was also pretty angry, it was showing that Cinder was losing ground fast. The tank was stopped when a foot crashed into his stomach and a shot sent him flying back, something he managed to recover from and landed on his feet, digging his sword into the ground to stop him skidding any further.

"You know something big guy," Mercury taunted, "I'm not too happy with the result of the last fight we had, I've been meaning to rectify it." Cinder stood and glared at the back of Mercury's head, annoyed that it took him so long to actually step in when she was clearly fighting a losing battle.

"You are not my concern, step out of the way!" He pulled the Greatsword out of the floor and physically readied it for another charge, though going off how last time started, mentally prepared himself to ne on the defensive.

"I'm your concern now." The silver grey haired boy started running at the dark skinned student - just as the tank had thought he would - ready for round two.

Whilst that all happened Coco made her way forward towards a couple of attackers - one Hound Faunus, one Cat Faunus - and waited for one to strike first. To her surprise, they attacked with a decent level of coordination as the Cat jumped high whilst the other stayed low, trying to get her off balance to open her up to more attacks from them. She blocked their strikes with either her arms, legs or her handbag, whichever was easier, for a little bit before they started gaining ground on her. The Hound threw a harsh right hook they she barely managed to bring her left arm up to stop it hitting her head, then as he pivoted round to strike her with an elbow, which she also blocked, the Cat Faunus went for a lunge attack from behind to get her to ground. Midway through their leap, Velvet intercepted and flew shoulder first into the feline, knocking her away from her girlfriend. Naturally the Cat landed on her feet, still skidding slightly due to the unforeseen change in momentum during the jump, and came to a stop as Velvet stood up from the roll she'd just finished to lessen the impact made when she herself landed.

"Why are you helping the humans?" the taller of the two Faunus girls hissed at the mage, "you should be on _our_ side, righting the wrongs they did to us for years!"

"What you're doing is only tarnishing our image further," the student replied, preparing herself for a fight. "Violence will only result in more violence."

"How else are we meant to get our message across?" Clearly this was something that had been drilled into their minds from induction and she was just spouting it out like a recital. "If humans cannot accept that just because we are different from them, it doesn't mean we all need to be ridiculed and treated as lesser beings, or thrown to one side to live in Menagerie away from everyone else, then we will need to take the land they hold so dear by force. They see us as animals, so we don the faces of them."

"Agreed, we're not treated as equals a lot of the time; but fighting won't make them see reason! If we work with them to-"

"You've clearly been spending too much time in their company." Dropping her stance slightly, her thin tail swayed side to side a couple of times as she stretched her finger, letting her feline claws come out. "I guess there's no point in trying to get you to see the truth, so I'll just flay your skin instead." Rabbit ears fell flat on her head at the vicious threat, but Velvet knew that running wouldn't be an option. She'd need to be on the defensive a lot, but she felt confident in her abilities to stop this woman.

Fox's final strike knocked the Badger out cold. The next two that attacked him, a Dog and another Badger, were clearly newer recruits with not as much combat experience as the rest of them. They blindly ran at him screaming, but as the scarred boy turned to "run away", they realised all too late that the first step he took was merely there to steady his body as he brought his other leg round to catch one with a spinning back kick to the gut that thrust one into the other. From there, Fox jumped in using his Aura to gain a decent amount of height on them. As the White Fang pair looked up, the boy's palm connected with the upper chest of the one at the front and using a little bit of his Aura to seal the deal he forced them back and down, driving the pair into the ground, knocking up dust and concrete everywhere but ultimately leaving them out of commission. Much easier than that first Badger. He straightened his posture and stared at the ringleader for this whole operation - she'd clearly provided the "muscle power" and the "strategy" for this battle, if that's what you want to call it - and the slimy man who paid for it all. A small hum sounded all around Fox as he addressed them.

"How will killing me help you?"

"In so many more ways than you could imagine. It'll help me unwind from a stressful day; keep my killings skills up to par; it gets your sorry ass out of my way; but above all else it gets me one step closer to coming into possession of the Parchment of Volentes and I finally get my wish!" The man started pacing up and down as he broke into a monologue. "My family was one of the first to ever lay eyes upon the Parchment back when it was first rediscovered. Back then, all they ever believed it to be was an ancient scripture of a religion long forgotten in a language not documented in countless generations. Until my ancestor made contact with it. It infused with him, meshed and melded with his Aura and it spoke to him. _'You are the first to ever be deemed worthy of the gift I possess. You may ask nearly any wish you like and it shall happen; as you are trustworthy and wise I will not worry about you making an irresponsible wish.'_

"He informed the party and went off to make a decision on his wish, but he was stabbed through the heart with a vicious looking blade. It looked kind of like this. The blade tore the Parchment even when it was attached to his very soul, breaking the information dump at the start and rendering my ancestor on Death's door with a magical item that no longer works properly. His attacker ordered that he grant her the wish she so desired. He refused, and according to those there at the time he died, his final words were as follows: 'Let it be written in ink and my own blood that this item is cursed. The one who touches it will die before their wish can ever be granted. Not I! I wish that the Clan of DeVanta - my family and lineage - shall chase after this Parchment until the end of days until one of us is granted the wish our family so deserves.'" Unseen by the once-blind boy, Emerald's semblance was working wonders on Fox as she hid her physical body from Fox's gaze and masked her Aura from him too. The mint haired girl was slowly making her way around Fox to catch him off guard from behind.

"So that's where you got your melodramatic and eccentric tendencies come from..."

"His words have been passed from him down to his son, and his son to  _his_ son, down through the years of the DeVanta bloodline, until I too was blessed with the knowledge of my family's legacy! They have been passed down and all of us knew his last words, knowing what to do and what to say _when_ we got hold of it, because I will."

"I can tell you now, killing me will just piss off three extremely talented and deadly Huntresses and Huntsmen-in-Training, and an ice cream themed woman who took all three of them down by herself casually, and they'd be after you with every intention of sending your sorry ass six feet under." Rather than the man speaking this time, the red clad woman spoke instead.

"That is why I brought so many of my friends along. You will all be dead within the hour and then that's one of Ozpin's prize teams down the drain. Morale in the school would plummet as his star second years students were killed, people would stop attending, Beacon would be the laughing stock of Remnant. And for what? A piece of paper." As a retort came to his lips, a pair of arms grabbed him under the arms and locked him in a Full Nelson. Emerald managed to sneak her way around behind Fox and was keeping him steady. "Now I have the rest of your friends to deal with, starting with your little Neo. After everything she'd done to us, she deserves to have her heart ripped out in front of her. What better way than to violently and slowly kill person she's taken a fancy to right in front of her eyes?" Cinder took off in the direction of Neo who was easily dancing around her foes. The man in the suit eased forward, grin growing all the more.

"Your death is going to be painful, especially since you ran from me." And he started slowly cutting the boys skin, causing him to thrash in pain as new scars were added to his skin.

The Cat Faunus very nearly matched her Rabbit brethren in terms of speed and agility - if the woman hadn't been trained at all before, then with training she could easily surpass Velvet - but she was most certainly the stronger and more aggressive of the two. Every attempt she made to attack the student, the girl would bound away from her reach, but she would pounce back at her and thus the cycle would continue. But the Rabbit had run earlier whereas she had not, so she slowly gained the upper hand, edging ever closer. Velvet knew this, and her futile attempts at doing something different with her defence to throw her attacker turned quickly into ever-growing mistakes that were getting easier to capitalise on. So, she switched strategies. She channelled a bit of her Aura through her feet to jump away a little further than she had been before, then propelled herself forwards straight after in a counterattack that the Cat had mere nanoseconds to react to, all of which passed by too fast as a knee collided with her ribs. Once that attack had landed, Velvet took a swing with the opposite arm to the knee, which connected with the side of the feline's head, and then finished all that with a backflip that she made sure her feet made nice firm contact with her jawline; they did, sending the woman flying back towards where Neo was fighting. The Cat Faunus didn't stay there long, just as Velvet didn't waste any time summoning a weapon to her aid.

With her Grimm mask now shattered, the Cat Faunus' green eyes turned to slits as she adjusted her position so that she was now crouched down and poised to strike. From what she could make out the Rabbit was very hands on with combat, much like she was, so she needed to gain the early advantage. Her thoughts were broken and her eyes turned back to their usual round irises as the ground in front of her started lighting up with bullets being peppered everywhere. She jumped out of the way as they made their way to where she was previously standing, her chestnut brown hair flowing a little more freely behind her as she did. Velvet stood there with a hard light construct of StormFlower in her hands, firing shots in rapid succession at her opponent to keep her at a good distance.

Velvet thought that StormFlower would be the best choice as it could provide probably the fastest rate of fire out of all the weapons she had in her arsenal at present, second only to her girlfriend's probably. Only thing is she didn't want to use the hard light Gatling gun at all; if they saw how it worked and pieced together the fact this was identical to the one the fashionista was sporting, then they could plan how to counter it before Coco herself uses the real deal which wouldn't be good for any of them at all.

Coco managed to hold her own against the Hound Faunus. She noted how he was good in battle, but ultimately whatever he and the Cat that Velvet was fighting had together - maybe they were each other's partners - was much better than the sum of the two parts. Not to say they were bad, but they weren't nearly as challenging to fight alone as they were as a pair, at least to the gunner. She kept noticing how lots of his moves would start out strong but then there felt like there was a gap where something should have been but wasn't; she deduced that was probably where the attack from his ally would come in. The fashionista forcibly snapped herself out of that mindset; she wasn't leading these two White Fang members, she was fighting them. Giving them ideas on how to improve would only make their fight harder.

Eventually, she grew tired of defending against half-attacks, so she baited the man into going for a high hitting strike. He non-verbally complied, hopping into a flying kick aimed straight at her head. Whilst not exactly what she was expecting, Coco took the chance he'd presented and stepped off to one side at the last second, wrapping her hands around his outstretched leg and in a quick and solid movement used his own momentum to bring him down with a crash into the ground. To ensure he stayed there, the handbag/Gatling gun on her belt was removed and came down on the back of his head, leaving him unconscious with a nice concussion and a potential broken nose to come around to. From there, she glanced at her girlfriend who was fighting in close quarters with the Cat Faunus, claws swiping and shots being fired with every punch - she was using Yang's weapons now. Doing what she could to get there as fast as humanly possible, CFVYN's leader made her way to fight by Velvet's side.

Neo toyed with the White Fang members a bit. They were no match for her at all, even less so than Yang was back on the train, and _she_ was a Huntress-in-Training. Their attacks were messy and uncoordinated, and fairly often she didn't even need to touch them to get them bumping into one another. She only did that for so long to appease her slightly sadistic side. Eventually she played serious, hitting them hard one after another in fairly quick succession to knock them out. Her skills were rewarded with a slow and sarcastic clap from behind her.

"It seems you've improved Neo," Cinder commented, "I'm impressed. You actually _can_ apply yourself when you care. If the situation weren't the one it was, I'd potentially offer you a place beside me again; but we both know what your answer would be to that anyway." Tattoos started glowing a glorious orange light as a Cinder's Glass Bow and arrows formed in her hands, all pointing at the person she once worked with. "That cannot be helped I'm afraid; you are just a lost cause now, and not only that but you won't be alive anyway to fight your way out of it." The red clad woman fired the two arrows she had drawn simultaneously, both of them flying straight at the smaller woman. Her parasol opened and acted like a shield for her, the two projectiles bouncing off its surface like metal. The material Neo used to create that was so unbelievably rare that she never mentioned to anyone where she got it from - not that she could anyway. As a cosmetic item, the parasol weighed ever so slightly more than a conventional one due to the material - though not by much - and yet as a weapon it could block multiple high calibre rounds with nothing more than an annoying scratch on it, even with such a thin layer of the material.

The slight downside was that there was no way to see through it. Cinder obviously wanted her to block like that as the second the para-shield was up, she rocketed forward, splitting the bow into two individual sword blades. Retracting it back so that it was much more offense ready, Neo's eyes flashed pale as her former boss took a swing at her. Knowing she didn't have time to react physically, she let the impact come as she teleported away leaving the shattered remains of what once was her body. Having teleported straight up, Neo was flying down to the ground fast and aimed directly at her enemy. Swords and parasol crashed into one another causing sparks to fly from between the two women's weapons.

"What's the matter Neo? It looked like you were doing alright earlier, but you're actually getting rusty."

 _Aw, you bitch._ The ice cream girl pushed the twin swords away and started attacking in a combination of her parasol and her feet; throwing first a left kick, then pivoting around for a backhand swipe of her weapon followed by a quick rising strike. Using the momentum from that strike she tried a jumping kick to Cinder's gut, but that was easily blocked, so she continued her assault with just the weapon in hand. Cinder was not bad in combat, she had far more experience and knowledge than she often led people to believe, but against Neo she knew she would not win with skill or strength, as Neo bested her in both of these categories - the latter of which both surprised and infuriated the tattooed woman when she first discovered. But Cinder was by far the most cunning and tactical out of them, out of everyone save Salem really.

Salem could play the long game really well, taking actions that may seem insignificant at the time but, much like a butterfly's wings to a hurricane, prove disastrous to their foes later down the line. Cinder was great at the here and now, the more short-term strategies, which is why Salem almost always went to her if something needed to be done quickly and done right. Having worked 'with' Neo for a while, she was aware of her skills and way of fighting; her weapon was just a parasol, but it could block most projectiles with ease and contained a hidden blade in the handle end, something she only got out when she was going in for the kill. She had no range whatsoever, and that is where Cinder needed to be.

The dark haired woman dissolved the weapon in her dominant hand and kept attacking with the one in her left. Whilst not the most powerful they could be, the swings still made an impact. Without warning, Cinder summoned a flame in her stronger hand and thrust it towards Neo immediately after their two weapons clashed. Unprepared, the petite woman threw herself backwards to avoid the heat, smacking away the stray flickers of flames on her outfit that lingered. Besides a slight darkening, no lasting damage was done. The blast of fire took a lot out of Cinder, she still only possessed part of the Fall Maiden's powers and as such she couldn't do all the things a Maiden could to the same degree and without immense strain on her body, so she limited the times she used it. But even so, Neo was now at a distance, one that wouldn't be in her comfort zone.

Cinder saw this and took the chance presented. She switched her sword into a bow once again and started firing arrows at her. Not intending to leave herself a sitting duck again, the ice cream girl's only option was to flee from them. As the first arrow stuck into the ground behind her, two more were already hurtling towards her. The parasol smacked the one arrow that came too close away, but all it did was shatter into glassy shards that made their way back to the woman with the bow. Shot after shot came and Neo danced around them all, swatting the ones that got too close away. She grew tired of playing defence and her mind focussed on shifting the battle in her favour again. She landed and lowered her body ready to advance, but the ground below them exploded as two shots from Mercury's boots landed right near their feet; a pure coincidence but it meant that neither of them had the upper hand on their opponent until one took the chance. Landing first, the ice cream girl rushed in, bringing her back into melee range and safely into her comfort zone. Without due time to properly ready herself, Cinder defended with the bow, blocking a few attacks with it before Neo went for a strike with a much larger wind up than others, giving her enough time to split it up into twin swords. So much for her plan of keeping Neo away.

Yatsuhashi's current fight with Mercury had a lot more energy and emotion behind it than their first fight at the Museum. Back then, one's aim was just to defeat the other to continue with their mission, whilst the other was tasked to stop them, all whilst surrounded by artefacts that at least one of them tried their best to keep intact. Now, there were no artefacts, one was driven by the desire to level their winning streak and the other was fuelled by an anger that made him more aggressive than he was last time, constantly pushing to be on the offensive.

The silver-grey haired boy fired shots at Yatsuhashi in an effort to keep them him at bay. It had worked the first-time round, but now there was no stopping him, he charged straight through everything Mercury sent his way and very nearly cleaved his head off with the force of the strike her narrowly ducked under. He knew there wasn't much choice, so he fired shots all around him, encircling him like a lightshow of pure white. The tank stood there, letting it happen - a poor choice. Once he was done, he flicked his legs towards the two girls fighting the Cat Faunus, a stream of white flying towards them.

"No!" The towering student's words fell on deaf ears. His two partners were combatting the Cat Faunus and were making good strides; when you're facing down two of the best Huntresses-in-Training in that year who just so happen to be partners at the same time, you lose ground pretty fast and are on the constant defensive, even attempting anything otherwise meant getting hit. They attacked her until what was effectively a wave of energy came flying down at their feet destroying the ground on which they stood and sending them into the air. The screams from both girls were a mash of surprise and pain. When they'd both landed, a little dazed, Velvet was greeted with a full-on punch to the face sending her tumbling backwards, blood falling from her nose as her Aura wasn't up at all to block the attack. Her girlfriend got something much worse than a bloody nose. The Cat's claws extended and took a hard swipe at the gunner's gut. As she was still confused from the blast, Coco didn't even attempt to raise her Aura. The claws cut deep, slicing clean through her clothing and drawing large amounts of blood from her stomach. Her second scream was of pure agony. Her body gave way from the sudden shock and she fell to her knees, cradling her stomach to keep the blood inside, but there was a lot. Velvet's cry for her girlfriend was heard by all, even over everything. She ran to her partner's side and aided in trying to stop the bleeding.

Yatsuhashi saw red.

He lost control completely.

Ever since he was small he was told that his temper would get the better of him. At seven, that came true and he grew angry and kept punching the person who had upset him. When he came to his senses he saw the blood on his hands and the state of the person who'd angered him. From that day on he practiced intense meditation to keep those urges at bay. For eleven years it worked. But when Daerk tried to buy Fox and Neo's bodies a crack formed. He was emotionally weak and the scientist's actions hit him when he was weak. And again, the actions of both Mercury and the Cat hit the same spot. That crack broke through the barrier he had spent so many years building; he had about ten years of unchecked rage behind him that needed an outlet.

The Cat lifted her hand up and let Coco's blood drip from her claws into her mouth. She licked her lips when she was done.

"Your blood is so sweet." Her eyes turned to slits as she approached, her primal feline instincts being sent into overdrive. Velvet opted against trying to keep the blood in and instead went for keeping Coco safe. "Let's see which one of your blood I prefer." Bracing for the worst, Velvet hugged Coco tight, the world growing slightly muffled as she did.

"I won't leave you Coco," she promised, "I'm with you until the very end."

A deafening crack startled her, but still she remained tight to her girlfriend's ever weakening body. After a few seconds of nothing she allowed one eye to pry open. She looked at the woman, who to her horror was still standing (somehow) with her neck facing completely the wrong way. No sooner had Velvet seen that sight, the body eventually let gravity to the rest as she fell backwards very much dead. Yatsuhashi turned his attention to Mercury, whose smirk was gone and in its place, was fear.

The giant broke into a sprint again. Even swinging past to pick up his sword and Mercury's cybernetic legs, he managed to close the gap between them. The silver grey haired boy thought that his only choice now would be to fight, so he brought himself to a stop and then spun with a reverse roundhouse to fire a shot and/or kick the student away. But Yatsuhashi was already too close for the boy as he was thrown into a nearby wall from a clothesline by the enraged student, getting embedded in the mortar. Without much time to register the pain he was experiencing, Mercury was now fighting to keep the pointy end of the tall student's giant blade away from his chest. He struggled, but the strain was becoming too great as it edged closer and closer. Yatsuhashi was pretty sure he heard someone calling his name and telling him to stop, but they were muffled against the rhythm of his racing heart.

The giant glared at his opponent. His mind was telling him he had no choice; to win, he had to use his semblance. He never used his much, and with good reason, but with how he was perceiving the world around him, reason went out the window.

Retracting the blade slightly to make the boy lose balance, he activated his semblance, erasing nearly a full minute of Mercury's memory in an instant. With the hired gun distracted by his current predicament and not paying attention to anything else around him, Yatsuhashi drove Fulcrum unrestrained straight through the abdomen of Mercury, killing him instantly.

"Merc!" Emerald cried, dropping her hold on Fox and running to the now dead boy's side. She tried to attack the giant, but she did nothing more than give him incentive to backhand her into the same wall as him, out cold the second his hand made contact with her. Yatsuhashi's sights were set on Daerk now. Much like before he ran at him, Greatsword dragging behind him. He grabbed the handle with his free hand, then five paces before he reached him he swung the blade to hit him, the impact undoubtedly killing him instantly due to his inability to access his Aura. But much like before the blade was stopped. Not by Cinder, but by Fox, Neo and a blood-soaked Velvet.

"Yatsu that's enough!" Fox called out, trying to appeal to his brother-in-arm's better nature. "This isn't you, _snap out of it!_ " He growled at them like a beast and pressed on with the attack, forcing the three of them back.

"Please Yatsuhashi, we're your friends, why would you try and kill your friends?" She wasn't sure which one of the events that had transpired in the last two minutes had spurred her crying; whether she was crying from seeing Coco slashed open, if she was crying from seeing two people brutally murdered in front of her, or crying because one of her closest friends was now trying to kill them all, but she was crying hard. "Listen to us!"

"Coco's dying Yatsu! We need your help!" The rage faded away slowly. Fox's sensed his Aura and saw the fire that was there was now being quelled and returning to the peaceful river he had come to recognise within his partner. Brown eyes blinked a few times before he spoke, his deep voice sounding rough from all the screaming he had been doing.

"Fox? Neo? Velvet, what's going-?" He cut his own sentence short as he realised his blade was hanging above their heads. "Oh, Gods no!" He threw his sword away in fear that he might continue to attack them. "What... have I done?" He looked around to see people on the ground, one with a small pool of blood forming from her mouth and two people crushed into the wall, the male oozing his crimson life essence onto the ground beneath him. "Was... this all me?"

"Yatsu do you not remember?" Those words, while they didn't help him with what he had done, made him realise why he had a hole in his memories.

"It happened..."

" _What happened Ya-_ " Neo's question in Sign was cut short when a blade was plunged into her lower back, her eyes turning white and a thin streak of blood coming from her mouth. Fox snapped round to see Daerk grinning at his sneak attack, so Fox closed the gap and cracked him over the head with a heavy right hook. Velvet caught Neo, who wasn't going to die from the stab wound but could very well be in pain for the next few days or so considering where she was stabbed and how deep the wound looked. The heavily scarred boy went to go and beat the scientist into a mess, who was merrily laughing to himself either out of joy or because Fox's hook knocked his brain out of whack, but he was pushed to one side by Yatsuhashi. Fox would have stopped him, but a strained cough brought him back to reality and reminded him in the grimmest way possible that he needed to focus on Coco if Velvet was looking after Neo; she looked deadly pale due to high blood loss, but she was a fighter and clearly wasn't ready to pass out just yet. The towering student picked up the knife Daerk had dropped in one hand and lifted the man up with the other, holding them both high off the ground.

"You deserve to die," he started. Whilst not entirely sure it was safe to let the boy who ruthlessly and near effortlessly killed two people not three minutes ago be confronting the very person who initiated the outburst of rage, the mage heard how Yatsuhashi spoke - he attacked the man with words rather than actions. His mind, for all intents and purposes, was functioning to a reasonable level, something that calmed her nerves a little, but not enough to let her relax completely. "Do you have no honour or common courtesy? My friends saved you from me and my rage, and your first reaction is to stab one of them in the back?"

"Well, that wasn't my _first_ thought. My _actual_ first thought was about h-" The grip on his shirt was tightened and his face was brought closer to the one holding him.

"I do not care! I care about the fact I lost control entirely for only the second time in my life, and it resulted in the deaths of two people by my hands. I care that all of my friends here, my team, are in varying degrees of discomfort and pain because of what you did. I care for that, but not for you. You bring shame to your family name." Yatsuhashi brought the knife high, but then chucked it straight down so that it buried itself blade first into the ground. He dropped Daerk and turned to deal with his friends, heading straight to Coco as she needed the most urgent medical attention. The shamed DeVanta tried to pull the knife from its resting place in the concrete, but it was forced in there really deep. Glancing round Yatsuhashi upon hearing strained grunts, saw the scene and sighed. Picking up a rock and testing the weight, he suddenly spun round and pelted him in the head with it, rendering him unconscious. He turned his much-needed attention back to Coco, who was very pale but still hanging in there.

"Yatsu, what happened with you?" Fox's new copper brown eyes looked at him weakly, needing to know the answer but never getting the luxury of it.

"When everyone is safe, I will explain it all. You have my word." Reluctantly, the boy nodded, wondering over to his girlfriend as Yatsuhashi carried Coco bridal style away from the carnage in front of them.

* * *

**{END OF PART 4}**


	32. Clouded, Decisions

**KEY:**

"Speech"  
_Thought_  
{" _Sign Language_ "}  
_~Thought Talking~_  
**Scroll message**  
_*Scroll call*_

* * *

The slow, rhythmic beeping of the monitors were a comforting sound to Team CFVYN. Coco's condition had stabled significantly as everyone who could was collectively pooling their Aura into hers to help with healing, none more so that Yatsuhashi, who had been doing it since he picked her up back in Vale and did not stop until she was taken off him, but even now as they all sat or lay there recovering they pooled. She also had an Aura shot to get her own Aura up and running and healing itself, but she was told there would be large scars there for the rest of her life. Neo had a few stitches in her back to help the stab wound heal, though she admitted to Fox that this was actually her first battle scar and she was just the tiniest bit excited about it, though it would fade quite fast due to its small size, relative to Coco's of course. Velvet's nose was healing well, nothing too serious but with some minor discomfort for the next few days or so. Fox was tired, having ran before the fight started, then having to work hard against his opponents _then_ having to help support Neo to the hospital. His new scars still had blood near the surface, but not high enough to start spilling out. Seven in total, and he was not happy about it. He sat in a chair with Neo essentially on his lap, Yatsuhashi on the chair facing the bed directly and Velvet pulled a chair up close to the bed not leaving her girlfriend's side and not letting go of her hand.

They all sat there, laying down for Coco, in silence as they processed what had happened the day before.

"I suppose now would be a good time to tell, right?" the large bass voice asked.

"It would be nice..." Coco strained, only to be immediately hushed by Velvet; she knew she wasn't supposed to talk and was instead supposed to be resting and healing, but Coco wasn't like that. Though judging by the looks on everyone else's faces, Yatsuhashi saw that her comment rang true. With a heavy sigh, he began.

"I have lived in Hai-no Hana all of my life. It is a somewhat decent sized village, compared to others throughout Anima, but it was all we needed. I am the eldest of three siblings, my sisters are twins both two years my junior." Team CFVY already knew this information, but Neo was new so this basic stuff was mostly for her benefit. "When I was five years old I was taken aside by my Father. 'Little one, you must control your anger' he said. 'You are angry, but I do not see why. Your anger weighs you down and stops you reaching the heights you are capable of.' That was his little comment on how small I was as a child; even at five there were children at four and even three who stood over me. But as I said, my Father attributed it to the anger bearing down on me and hindering my growth." The ice cream girl giggled silently, something her boyfriend noticed and he gave her a look.

~ _What?_ ~ she shrugged. ~ _I just find it hard to imagine Yatsuhashi being small._ ~

"My anger persisted for the following years, until when I was seven it came to a head. I was still a small child, not having grown much by this age and my parents were on the verges of having to officially have me recognised with Dwarfism. A boy in my class at school was antagonising me and the few friends I had, saying how we were all weak and stupid; _very_ childish insults looking back. I have to admit, even I do not remember the catalyst, but he said something specific and I lost it completely. I blanked out, not recalling anything from that time. I regained my composure having been restrained by four members of staff and saw the boy bleeding on the floor and my hands stained with my own and his blood. My parents were called in to see their son crying in the Principal's office, blood on his knuckles and to have the situation explained to them through eyewitness accounts, as Hai-no Hana avoided using Dust for anything expect necessities - cameras not being deemed necessary. After being antagonised to my breaking point, I apparently leapt at him and knocked into him with the force of someone much older and stronger than me. The way he landed hurt, but he didn't have time to feel that as I... proceeded to hit him again and again and again, bloodying my knuckles with every swing. In nine seconds, I had hit this seven year old boy with the force of someone twice my age and three times as strong over a dozen times. He survived, but he was never the same.

"My Mother scolded me for days afterwards, and when her disappointment was finally voiced completely my Father took me to the Mountain range beyond the village with only enough supplies to last the two of us a week. We went for a month; but it was his way of teaching self-control. In that month, I was taught very basic meditation, the same sort of things I taught you all when you asked to learn. It was constant. Meditating for at least four hours, then breaking for some time to relieve bladders and eat sparingly, then resume meditating. It worked. When I returned I was a different boy. I was calm, collected, I never lashed out and I had even started growing, having not done so properly in about two years. I was happy with the results of my Father's training, so I maintained it. Every day I woke up with the sun and meditated, clearing my mind and calming me for the day ahead. At lunch, I would go off and meditate for fifteen minutes. I got home, I'd meditate before doing chores. I'd meditate for as long as I felt necessary before I went to sleep. I did all of that to keep my mind clear and my anger contained. By the time I started learning about weapons and fighting, I was so different from the boy that attacked his fellow student that I wouldn't even recognise myself were I to look back. I chose a basic Greatsword because I believed using a gun based weapon adds another layer of intricacy to a weapon that doesn't really need one a lot of the time. The first time I picked up the sword I was nearly thirteen years old, yet already approaching 5'6". By the time I'd grown accustomed to it I was 6 months older and now also 6ft exactly. When I had mastered the sword completely, I was sixteen and the height you see me now.

"All that anger I had built up inside me had been purged from my body, and I had grown into the man my Father hoped I could be. My sisters, who had been scared of me for years after my incident, had changed their attitudes towards me just as my attitude had changed to everything else. They saw me as a role model, and my Mother couldn't be happier at that; she always wanted me to be there for them, to be the brother they deserved." He took a long breath in, giving everyone else time to process their thoughts. No one spoke though, they knew he wasn't done. "But as it turns out my rage was not purged; merely locked away behind a wall of emotions in my mind. The thought of your death made things hard, and made me vulnerable. Daerk wanted, even 'needed', your bodies so that he could try and get the Parchment from them and use it himself. I was emotionally weak from the day just gone, so his directness hit a nerve. A crack formed in the wall that had been built in my mind keeping those extreme emotions at bay, but it was only a crack. Yesterday was..." His fists balled as words failed and his head lowered, self-loathing taking over as his words failed. Neo looked at Fox, gave his hands a quick squeeze and walked over to her tall teammate. She did nothing more than give him a hug, but that was all it took for tears to start falling from his eyes. Velvet and Fox quickly joined the hug, Coco looking on wishing she could get up and be part of it as well. Emotions from Yatsuhashi weren't common. Fury had never happened before today for Team CFVYN, tears were more commonplace but still a rarity. "I even used my semblance against Mercury," he admitted in a guilty whisper.

Velvet gasped. Fox moved back in shock. Even Coco's eyes widened in terrified surprise. But Neo...

{" _Sorry, what's your semblance?_ "}

"I can wipe people's memories," he told her bluntly, staring at the floor in shame. "The memories are gone only temporarily though; they come back in the same time I took from them. If I were to wipe three seconds of memory for example, those memories would return to you in three seconds. I couldn't control it at first, so I wiped nearly twenty minutes from my mother's memory. I nearly drowned my sisters by making her forgetting them in the bathtub. From that point on, I swore never to use it against another person, for fear the consequences could end someone's life. And this time, it did. By my own hand."

"Yatsu..." Coco said from behind them all, their heads turning to look at her. "I know it may not be what you want to hear... but I'm glad you lost it." Her girlfriend snapped at her, sounding appalled at what she had just said.

"How could you say that Coco?!"

"Because..." she started with a raised voice, but quickly stopped as the shouting only hurt. Coughing a bit made her realise that it wasn't the best decision she'd ever made, and the Faunus felt similarly. "Because even though it was brutal, he _did_ save us. At least one of us would have died Velvs; definitely me, if it weren't for all your efforts in keeping me alive and Yatsu carrying me to the ship. That Cat would have killed Velvet too - sorry hun. Daerk would have gotten bored of torturing Fox and eventually would have killed him, and no offense Neo, but I don't think even you could have taken on your ex-team and a highly skilled White Fang member at all once without suffering great injuries or dying altogether. So actually, we might have _all_ died yesterday." Her optimistic look on the scenario actually eased his mind a bit, but not enough.

"Thank you for your kind words Coco," a smile formed on his face as he stood from his chair, "but if you do not mind, I would like some time on my own. Just to clear my thoughts some more." Without waiting for approval, the gentle giant left the room and headed outside. He wasted no time in removing the smile from his face and heading straight back to the dorm. Neo felt that something was off, and mentioned it to the rest of CFV_N.

{" _I want to follow him. He doesn't seem right._ "}

"He's not right Neo," her boyfriend reminded her, "just give him some time to get better."

{" _No this feels bad. It feels... I dunno, like he's already set on something. I want to make sure._ "} Nods approving her came from everyone. {" _I'll be as quick as I can._ "} With a quick kiss from her boyfriend, Neo went after him. She made sure there was enough distance between them so that she wouldn't have to constantly remain out of sight, but near enough that she could still spot him; hard to miss a 7ft tall student with a Greatsword though.

* * *

"I fail to understand your proposal Mr Daichi, what is it you wanted?" Ozpin sat as he usually did; elbows resting on his desk, fingers interlocked, his chin resting on his hands and leaning forward interested in what was being said; whether that was genuine interest or just an act he was obliged to perform as Headmaster of Beacon no one but he, and maybe Professor Goodwitch, knew the answer to.

"I want you to expel me from your school." The student looked tired, but he spoke with determination.

"I'm sorry, but I fail to see the reason as to why I should-" The response he got came fast and without apology.

"Because I am a danger. I'm an unnecessary risk to the school, and as such I feel it should be removed."

"There are many risks we as Huntsmen take in our lives. Some will prove to be too dangerous, other risks pay off. I do not think that there have been any risks I have taken in recent years that I have regretted when regarding my students and the decisions I make for and about them."

* * *

"Achoo!"

" _Gesundheit._ "

"Since when did you know Atlesian, Nora?" The Valkyrie simply shrugged like it was no big deal.

"I fear I may be coming down with something."

"That  _is_ the second time it's happened," Jaune mentioned.

"I could prepare a healthy and natural drink to help flush all toxins from your body."

"I... think I will pass. Thank you anyway Ren."

"You know where to find me should me culinary skills be required." Pyrrha glanced around the room, suspicious once more.

* * *

During Yatsuhashi's conversation with the Headmaster, Neo had materialised into office and hidden behind one of the large pillars. Her team needed to make sure their friend was alright.

"Sir, have you seen any reports of the incident?"

"I have. So many White Fang members out in broad daylight, along with Cinder Fall, two of her associates, and this Daerk DeVanta; the ringleader you presume?"

"It makes sense sir, he was the one who wanted Fox and Neo dead."

"Why did you ask?" Ozpin wondered, bringing the subject away from any tangent. "I thought you would know by now that any event that happens concerning my students gets back to me eventually."

"How many dead?"

"Yatsuhashi, I do not think that you-"

"How many?!" The green man sighed, taking the first sip from his cup since they'd started talking.

"No civilian casualties of any sort. 12 counts of concussion, 6 counts of harm to the person's body - yourselves included, 1 serious injury being Ms Adel's wound, and 2 confirmed death." Yatsuhashi shuddered on hearing that. "A female Cat Faunus was found with blood on her claws and her neck twisted round completely the wrong way, and a boy with a sizable hole in his stomach. I shall hazard a guess and say that the stab wound came from your Greatsword."

"You guessed correctly."

"And the Faunus?"

"I was the one to snap her neck."

"I see. And yet the very few eyewitnesses that remained there throughout recount how every person from Team CFVY, with the possible exception of yourself, were on their last legs and most likely would have died until you went into a berserker rage and killed those two. I see it as no more than protecting your team, though the lengths you went to maybe were a bit extreme, but nothing a few lessons on self-control wouldn't buff out of you."

"And you would be happy with having a killer walking your campus?" The Headmaster rose from his seat and walked over to the window, looking down at his school below.

"Long before any of my current students were even born, there was this girl. She very nearly killed her teammate on Initiation. By the end of her first year alone she had racked up plenty of kills, not just of Grimm. There were twelve corpses to her name by the time she was where you and the rest of Team CFVY are right now, mostly wranglers and poachers who were unlucky enough to be near her. And yet she graduated with her team. Do you know of Blake Belladonna from Team RWBY in the Year below?"

"Yeah, our teams are all good friends with one another."

"Well, then I assume you are aware of her Faunus heritage?" The towering boy nodded. "Well, she had done many terrible things before attending my school, yet nothing stopped me from allowing her in. Though I will admit that what she did back then and what you did now are in two separate ballparks. An ex-Faunus Rights Extremist with quite a large number of extreme cases of violence against her name from before, yet with a squeaky clean record once arriving - short of any impromptu missions the girls from Team RWBY take themselves on. That, versus a student hailing from a small village in Anima with a clean record from before, save a single incident of extreme rage back at age seven, and with only one tarnish on his record here, that being an outburst of anger a day ago that ended with two people dead. Or, if you wanted a fourth example, a woman who left her home in Atlas and started a spree of paid murders, thefts, attacks; have I missed anything Ms Neo?" The Headmaster even turned to look directly at the mute's hiding spot.

Busted.

She moved from where she was "hiding" and jogged up to Yatsuhashi, hugging him tight around his waist and not wanting to let him go. After as much contact as she deemed necessary she looked at Ozpin and shook her head at his question.

"There you are then Mr Daichi. I have presented you with three different examples of people who have done terrible things both before and after being here, yet all of who I am willing to keep at my school until their graduation."

"Still, that does not change my mind sir. I want you to let me leave." This was the first time Neo had actually heard what her teammate wanted, and her immediate reaction was to smack him in the stomach and furrow her eyebrows at him with a frown.

{" _Why would you do that to us Yatsu?_ "}

"Because this school would be better off without me."

{" _No it would not; if anything the school would be_ _ **worse**_ _without you here._ "}

"Neo does make a good point Mr Daichi." Neo was slightly taken aback, again, by the fact Ozpin could read what she was saying. "I cannot lose one of the members of the greatest team I have ever put through their paces here at Beacon. And losing you would bring it down to a three person team, something that impacts everyone else in a huge way."

"You can have Neo fill in that role. She is more than capable."

{" _If I was going to join, I want to join with all of you; Caffeine wouldn't be the same without you._ "}

"Pardon the curiosity, but what do you mean 'Caffeine'?"

"It's the name Coco gave our five-piece team when we defeated the Nuckelavee. It's just CFVY with the N for Neo at the end."

"Hmm..." the man readjusted his glasses so they sat better on his face. "I think that could work." The younger two looked at one another, then back at the man in question. "Alright then. Mr Daichi after some consideration, I am denying your request to let you leave this school. You shall be remaining here until your graduation in little over two years, or you do something so bad that I have no choice but to let you leave - though I doubt that bridged shall be crossed. And, seeing as how you and your team leader have already made your minds up - and I'm considering you've already practically moved in - Ms Neo; Welcome to Beacon."

He extended out a hand to the mute who took time to realise what had transpired. If she shook his hand it'd be official. If she didn't...

Oh, who was she kidding?

She took his hand and gave it a firm shake, grinning like a madwoman the entire time. "You do of course realise that due to the time in which you arrived you are not able to pass to as high of a standard as your fellow teammates or students?" She slowly acknowledged that fact, but she didn't care too much. "So long as you were made aware... I suggest you go with your teammate down to the Reception Area and get the necessary sizes for your uniform now so that it's ready for when you start next week."

"Sir?" Ozpin's head turned to look up at the boy, a sight he rarely had to do. "Can I at least have some leniency for the first week or two back? Just so that I can build up my inner wall back up?"

"That, Mr Daichi, is something I _can_ allow. You may have up to the beginning of the third week to get your mind in a state you feel is suitable in your own time; after that I must insist you do it when it does not impact your studies and revision. You do have exams coming up soon."

"Understood sir, thank you."

"Oh, and do not think that what you have done will not come without repercussions, Mr Daichi. There will be lengthy detentions for you too." The swordsman sighed, but nodded all the same.

Both students turned and headed to the elevator, Yatsuhashi picking up a large rucksack on the way past that must have been containing all the stuff he needed for the trip he was going to make. Neo chalked it up to either being so sure that he'd get the green light, or the fact that he was worried he'd come here first, get the go ahead, then head back to the dorm and meet resistance there.

She tapped him on the elbow to get his attention. {" _What can we do to help Yatsu? And don't say 'nothing', because you and I know that wouldn't be true and I'm pretty sure everyone else could see through that charade too._ "}

"What you can do," he sighed with a smile, "is keep up that positive attitude for me." The mute grinned at him, her new teammate and the polar opposite of her; dark skinned, tall, male... there was bound to be more. "But is what Ozpin said true?"

{" _About...?_ "}

"You. That you ran from home."

{" _I didn't run, I just left._ "} A thought crossed her mind. {" _I haven't been back since I died._ "} A second, slightly more worrying thought crossed her mind. {" _They have access to official records, all that state I_ _ **am**_ _dead! I need to go there, they might get the wrong end of the stick!_ "}

"Take Fox with you." Heterochromia disappeared for a moment and was replaced with vanilla white. A large hand rested on her shoulder in reassurance. "The way I see it, if you're going to see them, you might as well take him. It gets it out of the way then. Enjoy the holiday you have." Pink and brown returned upon hearing the reasoning behind his request just as the elevator doors slid open for the ground floor.

{" _Y'know, for someone who doesn't do the whole relationship thing, you're pretty darn good at giving advice for it._ "} He nonchalantly shrugged as they walked over to the desk.

"What can I say?"

{" _More than I can, that's for sure,_ "} she joked, bringing a loud belly laugh from the tank.

* * *

**Fox:  
_Hey hun, Coco's been discharged. x_**

**Neo:  
_That was quick. x_**

**Fox:  
_I know!_**

_**But Coco is a fighter, she was going to make it through once she started talking and gaining a bit of colour in her cheeks again.** _

_**Getting to that stage was the most stressful bit though** _

**Neo:  
_At least she'll be back in the dorm safe and sound soon. x_**

**Fox:  
_True, she'd been put under strict orders to take it easy_**

_**Guess who isn't happy about it? x** _

**Neo:  
_Is it her? x_**

**Fox:  
_We have a winner! xx_**

**Neo:  
_Ooh, what do I win? x_**

**Fox:  
_I dunno, I might need some time to think the answer to that x_**

**Neo:  
I look forward to it. xx**

**Oh, I have something I need to ask/tell you when we're together again x**

**Fox:  
_Can't you tell me now? xx_**

**Neo:  
Be patient! xx**

**I'll see you soon anyway xx**

**Fox:  
_See you soon Ni xx_**

* * *

"Velvet I don't want to rest now, there's still time to do things today." She didn't get words as a response, but instead a poke to the exposed, still rather sore stomach. "Argh!" She glared at her girlfriend with a look that showed her betrayal. "Bitch..."

"Love you too Coco. Now rest, or I'll poke you harder."

"You know I like it harder anyw- Ow!"

"Next time, I'll hit your wound, and we'll have to go back to the Infirmary to get you stitched up again."

"I'll be good..."

"Good girl." Dark brown eyes squinted at the Faunus, who got to work making the bed comfortable for her injured team leader with a large smug grin on her face. True to what Coco mentioned, the clock in the dorm showed that it was only 2:01pm, so it was understandable why the fashionista was restless and wanting to do something else. Fox took the opportunity of the pair of them being preoccupied to jump in the shower. He turned the knob and let the water heat up as he stripped down to jump in. The new scars he'd acquired yesterday stung when he removed his clothes, much like every other time he'd gotten new scars. He also knew that this next part was going to sting something fierce, but he needed to get clean.

Once the water was hot enough, he jumped under the shower. The sensation was so pleasing, all of the aches he had and his tense muscles relaxed when the water hit. But at the same time, it sent sharp pains running through his core. Every time a droplet of water touched the newly scarred skin it burnt. He needed to be quick. Washing his skin rid him of the sweat, grim and minute amounts of blood he had on him, but as he felt his pores opening he also felt the newer scars peel open as well. He quickly finished scrubbing under the hot water, then flipped the temperature gauge down until it clicked, reaching the coldest it could in seconds.

"All I'm saying Coco is that we've got a week left, so now'd be a perfect time to get a little bit of studying in."

"I'm aware of that hunny-bun, but if you want me to rest then shouldn't I get some rest?"

"Coco Adel, you can't possibly go from wanting, nay needing, to do something to curb your boredom one minute when I suggest you rest, to actively wanting to rest after I give you a suggestion for something to do that doesn't tickle your fancy."

"Ooh Velvet, you dirty little tease you..."

"I didn't say what I know you thought I said," the Rabbit huffed, "and you know it. Besides I don't think having your lower core doing spasms whenever you orgasm is going to do those stitches any good, is it? We want them to stay there until-" her sentence was cut short by the sound of a boy in the shower next door swapping from the extreme high heat to the freezing cold of the shower. The sound was reminiscent of a primitive monkey call, the boy oohing and ahhing in quick succession to one another. The partners looked at each other in surprise, then saw the laugh building in their partners eyes. Within seconds the pair of them were laughing uncontrollably in their dorm, enjoy their little private performance and each making notes as to never let Fox live that down.

After braving the sudden climate change, he jumped in. The cold still made his spine tingle, but the icy touch if the water helped seal all his pores and would keep the scars from opening. He stayed there no longer than he needed to before knocking the dial back to normal and turning the shower off. He dried his skin and hair with his own towel, throwing on some clothes he brought in with him, put his dirty clothes in the hamper and left the bathroom for someone else to use. He hadn't been out of the bathroom for long when Yatsuhashi and Neo walked through the door.

"You feel a bit better now Yatsu?" his partner asked.

"I am, yes. Thank you, Fox."

"Good to hear." His focus shifted to his girlfriend, who was already walking to him anyway. "What did you want to tell me Neo?"

~ _I'll let Yatsuhashi finish explaining first._ ~ The boy nodded, then looked at the gentle giant realising he was carrying a bag on his shoulder.

"I wanted to leave Beacon." Various calls of confusion and betrayal were fired at the boy before he raised his hands up to stop them and explain further. "Ozpin refused to grant my request anyway, but let me speak and explain why. I felt that I was a danger to everyone, just knowing that I don't really have any walls built up in my mind to keep that from happening again soon. I wanted him to kick me out of Beacon so that I could spend weeks, months, years building mental those walls back up so that they may never crumble again. As I said, Ozpin refused. But he has given me a pass to take time off for the first two weeks of term to help me rebuild my mental barriers again. Oh, and detentions." The team cringed at that, but chuckled in good nature. "That is what I will be doing from now on this week. All I ask from you for this next week is to let me be and let me do my own thing - I would like this process to be as quick as it can be."

"We understand Yatsu, you have our word," Coco told him, getting a smile from her taller teammate. Trying to get herself out of bed wasn't going to happen, the pain from her stomach hurt when she moved a certain way. "Guys, go and hug him for me." Brown eyes rolled as the big guy walked over to the bed so that Coco could be part of the group hug as well.

"But that is not the only news we bring back from Ozpin, is it Neo?" The petite woman smiled and jumped back a little so that everyone could see her. She grinned as she signed,

{" _Ozpin has officially approved it. I've been accepted into Beacon and will be part of Team Caffeine as of next week!_ "} The two girls both cheered at the news, and Fox ran up and picked his girlfriend, now official teammate, up and spun her around a couple of times before putting her down and catching her in a long and powerful kiss.

"Neo that's wonderful!"

{" _Yup, I should have my uniform ready by the end of the week._ "}

"You'll look as amazing as always Neo," Coco mentioned, causing the mute to blush slightly.

{" _There is one other thing though._ "} In comparison to how fast and excited she was when signing the fact she was now a Beacon student, this little sentence was slow and with a fair bit of hesitation, something everybody picked up on.

"Neo?" For a very brief moment, Neo wished she hadn't mentioned this just now, but she had messaged Fox regarding this so he would ask anyway. She genuinely wasn't sure how to word it - well, honestly, I suppose.

{" _I... need to go home to see my family._ "}

"Okay, that's not so bad Neo," Fox interrupted her, not knowing the rest of the sentence.

{" _And I would like you to come and meet them Fox._ "}

"You... huh?" Stumped, Fox looked at Neo for clarification, his dark copper eyes meeting her own pink and brown. ~ _Really Ni?_ ~

~ _Really. I need to go and see them anyway so that they know I'm not dead - I haven't since the Museum and I... kind of destroyed the official document stating that I was no longer dead. By all medical records, I am dead. They'd need to see me to know for sure._ ~

~ _And you want me to go-_ ~

~ _To get it out of the way. Two birds, one stone. Plus, little week away on Atlas with your girlfriend doesn't sound too bad, right?_ ~ There was silence in their minds for a moment and the eerie lack of sounds kept creeping up on them.

"Okay then." He spoke normally, breaking both silences that had formed in the room. "When are we leaving?"

~ _You... are going to come with me?_ ~

"Neo, you are my girlfriend. You are now also my teammate. I wouldn't let you go alone anyway - none of us would." As a solitary tear formed in her left eyes, Neo looked around to see the rest of her team smiling and nodding at the statement. Once her sweep confirmed that statement, she stood on her tiptoes and hugged Fox as tight as she could manage. "It'd easily take a day to travel up there, wouldn't it? We don't exactly have a lot of time to spend there either; how we going to do this?"

"If memory serves, there is a Bullhead that would land you near a larger airfield, one with ships that frequently travel to Atlas." Yatsuhashi had clearly put some thought into it, maybe he was planning on travelling away from Vale and Anima when he was 'kicked out' so that they were unsure where he'd be. A smart ploy, all things considered. "They leave thrice a day, you could catch the afternoon one if you hurry but take nothing with you, or the early evening ship if you start packing now." Team CFVYN looked at one another, then nodded in unison. They'd work as a team to help get Fox and Neo packed up and ready to leave as soon as possible. They'd already proved it before, but they were going to be a strong team.


	33. Doing [this with] You is [the] Cherry On Top

Whilst none of them had the gift of Speed like Ruby did, they made record time in getting everything packed and ready for Fox and Neo. The couple bid their farewells to Coco and Velvet, who were staying in the dorm so that the former could rest and recover for a bit.

{" _Bye guys, hope you recover by the time we get back._ "}

"I should do, thanks Neo."

"See you Coco, don't do anything I wouldn't do."

"So, a lot of things then?" Fox rolled his eyes with a chuckle.

"You're meant to be recovering, remember? Just lay back and relax."

"That's Velvet's line, not yo- Ow!" She received a fairly forceful prod to the scars from her girlfriend.

"This is just too easy right now... have fun you two."

{" _Will do. Bye!_ "} The door shut behind the pair and Velvet listened to the two pairs of footsteps making their way down the hall, leaving her and Coco in a comfortable silence.

"...so, about those orgasms you mentioned earli-"

"No."

They'd changed their clothes so that they had a little more comfort when travelling and also a bit more protection from the colder weather up on Atlas; Fox had never been, but according to Neo even summertime up in Atlas had a chill in the air - helped in no small part to the fact the Kingdom was suspended hundreds of metres above the ground, chained to Remnant like a giant balloon of earth, metal and Dust. Most high-end families like the Schnee or the Glasur Families had their clothing made especially so that it kept the chill out in all weathers. The rest had to make do with what they had, which wasn't terrible but nothing compared to what they had. Neo was dressed in full Cherry attire; a sleeveless black blouse with white frills on the chest and collar with a black ribbon bow hanging from front of the collar, medium-length black armbands on both of her wrists, a knee-length skirt fastened with a white belt, black shoes and white legwarmers, all with her hair done up in a twin tail style and completely black, save a few white streaks, and her eyes a permanent green.

Fox was much less disguised as Neo was, simply opting to wear one of his new t-shirts, his new hoodie (which still had a faint smell of vanilla from when Neo wore it), along with his regular trousers and shoes. He also wore his weapons on his wrist, albeit retracted entirely into just their new bracelet form (had to thank Ruby for that upgrade when he got back). Fox carried a large bag on his back that held most of their spare clothes, including Neo's normal outfit, and a few other things. Neo also carried a bag, though not nearly as big but it had most of the food they'd need for the journey.

"I hope that everything will be alright for you two," Yatsuhashi shouted, fighting slightly to be heard over the sound of the Bullhead's Dust engines.

{" _We'll be fine. Please don't let what happened yesterday get you down Yatsu,_ "} Neo signed. Admittedly, using Sign was probably the best idea right now considering the noise, so the tank switched to it.

"{ _It won't. I should be much better about everything when you return. Farewell._ "}

{" _Enjoy detention._ "} The tank scowled briefly, but they could see the smirk that grew on his face as he waved them off one last time. The couple waved back and slid the side door shut as it took off, leaving them on their own.

"You nervous, Ni?" Were she capable of making any sound, she would have scoffed at that remark. Instead, she smirked and flicked her boyfriend on the head, her Heterochromia consciously returning as she did so.

~ _Why would I be nervous? They're my family. The real question is: are_ _ **you**_ _nervous about meeting the future in-laws?_ ~ Fox choked on the air, coughing and spluttering everywhere. He spoke in his head so that his coughing could subside properly.

~ _"In-laws"? Neo isn't it a little early - heck, very early, in fact - to be thinking about that sort of thing? Who knows whether we'll be together in three or six months' time, let alone years._ ~ She gave him the best puppy dog eyes and trembling lip she could manage.

~ _Do you not... love me anymore?_ ~ He found it increasingly difficult not to succumb to the pressure of looking at her like this. Clearly, she'd been saving using this for an extreme moment - by anyone's books, this counted as an extreme case. He caved, hugging her close to his body.

"Of course I love you. It was just... so sudden." He broke the hug to look in her eyes again. "I'm just a little confused, why suddenly with the in-laws?" She rolled her eyes and shook her head, like it was the most obvious thing in the world that he was missing.

~ _Fox, ask yourself this: "Would Neo honestly leave me for anyone else?" Or even: "Would I leave Neo?" There's no other couple like us; Fate brought us together, but love is keeping us here. I will admit, I could have very easily disappeared from the Hospital and never could have set foot in Vale again. I could have disappeared. But I came back time and time again because something was drawing me back, even before I knew about the link the Parchment made. You intrigued me. I kind of knew I always wanted to be with you, but I never really could express it._ ~ She looked away a little shamefully at her confession, knowing that it was something she maybe could have saved for later or the trip back; any other time except mere minutes after walking on to the aircraft. A scarred pair of lips pressing against her forehead broke her concentration, bringing her back to the Realm of the Here and Now.

"Neopolitan, I would never leave you. I was just a little surprised, but I agree with what you were inferring. No, I would not leave you, just as you wouldn't leave me. In-laws doesn't seem too bad a thought now, though I'm making it clear right now that that sort of thing will not be happening until we are gone from Beacon and have settled down into life a little bit more."

~ _I can live with that. For now though,_ ~ she pecked him on the lips and then lay her head on his lap, ~ _I just want to rest a little. We've had a hectic past couple of days, and I don't want to be rocking up to my parents' house going "Hey Mom, I'mma go sleep now" before I do anything else._ ~

"Makes sense." He adjusted so that she was as comfortable as she could be. "That means you have to let me sleep on you when we're on the Atlas-bound ship."

~ _No need, there's enough people and we'd be woken up anyway._ ~

"Whatever you say hun." He leaned down to give her a quick kiss on the nose before he sat up again and stared out of the window watching Beacon drift slowly to the horizon.

* * *

Neo was in more need of sleep than she had originally thought. Normally she'd be fine, needing only a few hours of sleep to be rested and ready for the day, but now sleeping was just bliss. Fox had to wake her up later so that they could get on the ship, but until that time he knew he had to manage. Sitting her up. he slowly and slightly awkwardly shimmied her onto his back for a piggyback, then grabbed their stuff. He slung the smaller of the two bags they had over Neo's shoulders and she carried the other in his hand. The setting sun was disappearing behind the treeline of the Emerald Forest in the distance and night was slowly making its way in. The light made Neo's face glow, her skin shining in contrast to her hair and a large portion of her outfit, all of which absorbed a lot of the light that hit it and made in flat in comparison, save a few white streaks in her hair that slowly started reappearing. The soft smile on her face from her dream warmed his heart, and something told him he'd need a lot more of that if they were heading to Atlas.

He got to the Main Gate after 15 minutes of walking. Knowing they'd need to speak to each of them, Fox had to wake Neo up despite the fact she'd not be particularly happy about it. But her eyes shot open and she was up like a flick of a switch.

~ _Right, let's go!_ ~ Fox was still a little confused as to how she could do that; he felt the need to ask.

"How is it that you can go from sleeping peacefully to fully awake in a second? It takes me minutes to even become vaguely aware of my surroundings."

~ _Who said I was sleeping?_ ~

"What do you... you weren't asleep at all were you? You just hitched a ride on my back just because you could." A giant grin formed on her face, knowing full well she'd been busted but honestly not caring at all. Fox narrowed his eyes, the gesture being all he needed to express how he felt. Neo blew him a kiss, then gestured towards the gate, readjusting the bag on her shoulders.

The couple waited in line in silence to everyone else, but they were talking in their head about this and that, with Neo constantly reminding him that she was 'Cherry' until they got to her old home. If anyone looked at him, they could tell Fox was nervous. He had never been this far away from his family and friends before and that thought unnerved him a bit. A small yet soft hand held his own and a gentle grin brought him back down to ground level and reminded him that everything will be okay. She also reminded him that she could still hear his thoughts, something he cursed himself for forgetting.

The pair of them made it through the checks in one piece, and nothing was called into question - though they would need to go through a second lot of checks a little bit further down the line as they would be carrying weapons onto the ship. Sailing through those checks as well, they were given their tickets and their Huntsman Badges to confirm that they were legally allowed to be carrying weapons with them and boarded the ship heading to Atlas. Compared to the ships that brought all the freshies to Beacon in their first year, this ship was massive; but Fox honestly expected nothing more from Atlas. It almost looked like a giant flying cruise ship, with its multiple levels of windows and observation platforms, albeit glassed off observation platforms because of the potential high altitudes they would be flying at.

' _~f you're done staring at it Fox,_ ~ his girlfriend teased, ~ _we've got seats to find._ ~ They were seated in 5 minutes, up in the air in 10 then told they could get up and move around in 20. They made their way to one of the observation platforms on the ship, with only two other people there with them - neither of them with anyone else.

"Well, 'Cherry', are you excited to be going home? I know it's been a while for you."

~ _Hey, I heard those quotation marks around my name._ ~ The boy shrugged, staring out at the clouds as they approached ever closer to the top of the window. ~ _But in answer to your question; yes, I am excited. But nervous at the same time. I remember how they got when I lost my voice - my Father felt dreadful, said that it was entirely his fault for me being the way I am. He said that if he had just let the condition be, I may still be able to talk; the medicine I was given reacted with my Aura at the low dose levels it dropped to and sent it into overdrive. It took my voice with it. Mom was pretty bad too. Uncle Lang was the worst, no doubt about it._ ~ He didn't hear it, but Fox saw Neo's shoulders rise and fall noticeably as she fought against any emotions swelling to the surface. ~ _They may think I'm still dead. I mean, I_ _ **did**_ _destroy the "This Person Isn't Dead Anymore" paperwork from the Hospital, both the physical and electronical copies - but they might have seen it too. It's not like I'm hard to spot in medical records, even without an image. Just search for heterochromia borealis and there I am in that small list of about 10. I hope they haven't looked at the records... I_ _ **really**_ _hope they haven't..._ ~ Her hands were gripping the railing tight, her knuckles white from how tight she held onto it. Her grip eased as her boyfriend slid his hands next to hers, letting her know he was there for her. She loosened her grip on the metal and let him slide his hand underneath for her to hold instead, the grip much gentler now she was holding his hands than what it was a moment ago.

"If they have, I just think you've got to be truthful about why you did it. In the time I've known you, you haven't done things without reason. Unless this was an exception, doing that is no different. They will understand. They are your family; they may not support you all the time, but that fact will never change."

~ _There you go again, finding the right words first time round._ ~ Her hands let go of his as she instead chose to hug his middle whilst staring out as the ship broke through the clouds to reveal the clear, uninterrupted night sky.

"That wasn't always the case, y'know. But you bring out the right words." He wrapped an arm around her shoulder and joined her in staring out at the worlds beyond their own. "I'll tell you now, if I had a view like this - I'd honestly stay and watch it for the rest of my life."

~ _That's great and all..._ ~ Neo started. Fox heard the fact she was annoyed, so turned to look at her. Yup, she stood there with a furrowed brow and was giving him death stares. ~ _...but I noticed you weren't looking at me!_ ~ Fox couldn't help but laugh, gaining the attention of one of the other people on the platform.

"Why would I do that?" At first those words sounded like an insult, like he was only doing this as a joke. Neo took it like that at first and was ready to run away and most likely kill him the first chance she got. Fortunately for him, he finished his train of thought before she did anything stupid like that. "I thought it was pretty obvious that I wanted to do that with you anyway, that I didn't need to say anything. But: I would watch you, be with you, be proud of you for the rest of my life." His free arm made its way round and rested on her other shoulder. "And I mean that, Neo." The last word was whispered, knowing full well she didn't want her cover blown. But by him using it, it showed her he genuinely felt that.

~ _Apology accepted._ ~ Her grin was enough to lighten the mood between them. They stayed there for a minute or two, rocking side to side in unison. ~ _Now, how about we actually go and get some shut eye before we get to Atlas?_ ~

"That sounds great. Lead the way."

* * *

The fact the light from the sun disappeared from the bottom to top meant that they had dropped below the clouds. She let her eyes open as slowly as she could, fatigue having actually set in when her body hit the bed late last night. She was partially thankful that she was only wearing a sleeping top and her underwear, it made the bed seem even more relaxing. She eased herself up to get a better look out the window and saw a sea of pale grey, followed by another sea of blue. Besides that, there wasn't a lot more she could see, so she got up and walked to the small window in the room they were given for the journey over. Staring out, she glanced upon an all too familiar sight: Atlas.

Home.

' _Fox look at this! Isn't the view amazing?_ '

"You can say that again..." She turned around to see Fox sitting up in bed, staring straight at her behind like it was the only thing left in the world.

' _Get your ass out of bed and take a look outside. You're not going to want to miss this._ ' Feeling his joke didn't quite get the response he was looking for, but not wanting to aggravate his girlfriend at a time like this, he made his way to the window. Neo heard the intake of breath as copper brown eyes gazed upon a Kingdom of marble white buildings floating in mid air. Looking at him, she saw him mesmerised by the sight of the city. Grinning, she mentioned, ~ _This, I don't mind you staring at over me._ ~

"Neo, _this_ is Atlas?" he managed, still awestruck.

~ _Yup. This is the Kingdom I grew up in. I didn't see a lot of it for many years, but I've been back since then and I've had a wander around from time to time. There's a few places I'd like to take you whilst we're here, if that's okay with you.~_

"Of course it is Ni." Smiling, as sense finally came back to him, he gave Neo a quick kiss on the forehead before walking towards the small set of drawers by his side of the bed. "Come on, I want to get out of here as fast as possible." Sadly for him, he missed the evil smirk grow on her face and her irises swap colours from Cherry's green eyes so that pink sat in her right eye and brown in her left. Not eight paces away from the window, a sudden weight fell on Fox's back and he tumbled to the floor as Neo had jumped on his back, his chest planted firmly on the carpet.

~ _Oh no, you've fallen and been trapped by the vicious Ice Cream Death Monster! There is no leaving now!_ ~

"Not the Ice Cream Death Monster! Anything but that!" he cried, playing along. "Whatever shall I d- ow!" He was cut off by pain when she rested her knees, quite heavily considering her size, on the small of his back and held her hands at the top of his arms with a firm grip to keep him from moving.

~ _I don't know, what_ _ **are**_ _you going to do?_ ~ she teased, clearly enjoying this.

"Give up." He flopped, unwilling to be part of this silly little game anymore. She wasn't best pleased about that, so she tried again; pressing down harder and tightening her grip. He grimaced at the pain, but he was face down in the carpet so she couldn't see it.

~ _I said "what are you going to do?"_ ~

"Give up. I surrender. The Monster has won, all is doomed." He really wasn't playing along at all, and that irked Neo. She flipped him over so that he was laying on his back facing her now. His face looked as uninterested as his voice sounded. She leaned in close, staring right at his eyes, though he didn't look back.

~ _One more chance Fox. What are you going to d-_ ~ Before she had time to react, Fox's lips pressed against hers for a long, stolen kiss. As time drew on past the initial shock of the gesture, Neo settled into it. She leaned back gradually, letting him get to a sitting position so that they were both comfortable as they remained lip locked. Their foreheads remained in contact as they broke for air, Fox speaking through small yet deliberate intakes of air.

"What I am going to do, Neo, is not spell my plan out to the enemy and either let them think they've won or make them lose their concentration. When the defences are down, I will strike. It will be when they least expect it, making the ploy all the more satisfying when it works - there is no way this wouldn't work." He grinned, proud of his achievement.

~ _Props to you for the strategy. However,_ ~ in one movement she hoped he wasn't expecting, she grabbed him by the shoulders and forced him back down to the floor, her legs now straddling him and her hips resting on his stomach, ~ _what did you have planned for a counter strategy, like this one?_ ~

"This is your counter strategy?" All he got was a smile in reply. "Well, as bad as I know it is to agree with the strategies and plans of the enemy, I have to say I like where this strategy looks like it's heading." His hands grabbed her exposed hips as hers slid their way down to his chest. "Care to show me the rest of the strategy?" Her hips deliberately slid backwards so that her crotch rubbed against his own as her lips landed on his once again. Her mind spoke clearly even though her mouth was incapable of producing words; even if it could, she was otherwise engaged with kissing her beautiful boyfriend.

~ _Fine then. Step two:_ ~

* * *

Cherry strutted out of the room afterwards, her face glowing a fainter tint than her namesake. Fox walked out soon after with the rest of the stuff that Neo didn't carry behind him, his face blushing slightly; given his skin tone was much darker than his girlfriend's the glow on his cheeks was less noticeable. Fox was equal parts disappointed and glad; she had been to Atlas many times and therefore knew how long it took from seeing Atlas on the skyline to landing on the airstrip. So, from the second they started "Discussing Battle Strategies", she was calling the shots. Fox found her really attractive when she did that, so he wasn't in the mood for arguing on that fact. He was glad about that. He was disappointed they didn't have more time, but they could make that time again later, providing she was cool with it.

Walking out into the open Atlas air was a stark contrast to what it was like on the ship. On the way there the air was warm, now every breath had a chill to it even on a clear morning like today in the midst of summer. The altitude made the air a bit thinner too, but it was only noticeable if you had exerted yourself and were struggling to get air into your system. Fox chastised Neo for making them susceptible to the thinner air. Neo countered by lifting her skirt up for the briefest of moments to flash her boyfriend in the middle of the airstrip, winking at him. She got her point across, so he shut up about it. Most people who left the ship went straight away to where they needed to go, but Fox and Neo/Cherry waited around for the rush to disperse before they left.

"So, what's the plan Cherry?" he asked, making a point to push the name so that it became natural for him to say it.

~ _Straight to my parents' house I think. I wouldn't want to keep them guessing or worrying any longer than they need to. The sooner they know I'm okay, the better._ ~

"Whatever you say, Cher. I'll follow wherever you go but be prepared; I may be staring at everything as we're walking."

~ _There'll be time for that afterwards, now come on._ ~ The pair of them caught a smaller aircraft that would take them to one of the districts in Atlas. Landing here brought back memories for Neo. She caught her first flight from here back when she was younger, they'd taken a small trip to the far side of Atlas to go see a show, and she was honestly more excited about flying there than she was about seeing the show. The entire time she recalled asking "Daddy, when are we going to fly home?" and he would always reply "Not yet, my flower. We must wait until we are done here." The usually confident woman grew steadily more nervous as they got closer and closer to their destination. By the time they were within viewing distance of the house Neo was shaking. He'd noticed that she was before, taking her hand to ease the nerves but now it was beyond what actions could do.

"Neo, what's the matter?" He didn't care about keeping the name act up, not while _she_ needed help and attention, not 'Cherry'.

~ _I'm just... scared of what they'll think._ ~

"What are you talking about?"

~ _I'm dead, by all accounts. If they saw that, believed it and then I show up, they'll have a go at me for putting them through that heartache, at_ _ **best**_ _._ ~

"They are your family, they ought to be happy to see you safe and sound."

~ _Yeah, but... I... still feel wrong. When they see Cherry, they know that their little girl is safe, knowing full well that I'm underneath all of the make-up and costume but not doing anything to show how happy they are about it because Cherry is a familiar-stranger to them._ ~

"Then why don't you give Cherry a break? Be truthful, let them see you, let them know that _you_ are safe, not some character you use to hide yourself."

~ _Fox, they haven't seen their daughter in years. She is dead; she died the same time Neo was born._ ~

"And Neo 'died' months ago, I know I'd want to see my daughter and know she was safe."

~ _I don't want them to see Orchid again!_ ~ Her irises blinked from green to ivory as the name resonated in her mind. She hadn't spoken that name in any real sense for a long time, not in conversation like this at least. Fox pulled her to a little side alleyway as her tears started forming, her eyes fading back to pink and brown as her defences dropped and her emotions were on the table.

"Neo, shh, it's all right." Hs arms wrapped around her and he started rocking side to side, humming a nameless tune to ease her worries.

~ _I haven't called myself that in nearly eight years..._ ~

"I still think it's a beautiful name, one that goes with a beautiful personality to make you the beautiful person you are." He felt the smile on her face on his chest.

~ _Would you stop being so good at making me feel better in a sentence or two? It's like you have a power or something._ ~

"Maybe I do, how would you know?" He pushed her away to look into her eyes, which had reverted to Cherry's green eyes again. He took a hold of her dark wig she wore for Cherry and removed it, revealing her natural split hair colours. "I think you should show up as you." Her eyes darted down, avoiding eye contact as best as she could. "They won't hate you Ni. They can't. They're seeing their daughter again." Slowly her eyes drifted back to meet his again, comfort flooding in as she did so.

~ _You're... you're right. I should._ ~ Smiling at her boyfriend briefly, she went to grab the bag with Neo's clothes in. ~ _Keep an eye out, I don't want people walking down here to see me strutting about half dressed._ ~

"Sure." He stood in the alley waiting for her to be done. After 5 minutes, a pair of arms wrapped around his middle from behind.

~ _All done now, pretty boy._ ~

"Good to hear Ni. Now come on, let's go meet them."


	34. Back From The Dead

The house was no different once again. Everything was where she remembered it being. The front gate was large enough to fit a vehicle through with ease, but still quite plain. Once through there and into the front 'garden', if you wanted to call it that, there were a large array of different flower beds and small decorative bushes about. A memory Neo was particularly fond of concerned the third little tree they passed, when she and her brother were running around it chasing one another. It was her turn to be chased and in an attempt to escape him she turned around to run the other way, only for them to collide with each other and lay down clutching their aching heads. It didn't hurt per se, it was much more a shock; and they always laughed about it as they grew up, until Neo couldn't laugh any more. But they still had fond memories.

The sandy gravel path up to the door crunched under foot, small stones shifting at their respective weights. Directly in front of the house was another small flower bed, but this time with much less variation than previous ones. In flower beds they'd passed before, there were plenty of flowers and plants that brought colour and height variety to the border of their small (for Atlas) plot of land. This flower bed lacked that, but that was not a bad thing. In here they were a small bunch of very delicate Buddleia, blooming in a mixture of deep and softer purple. Despite her hair colour, Neo mentioned to Fox how her Mother adored the colour purple. These flowers were hers, she used them as a way of bringing herself peace about her daughter.

The front door was not grand by any stretch of the imagination; it was a very plain door. But that made it stand out amongst a street where ornate decorations were a huge thing. The family itself wasn't very eccentric, and Neo mentioned that her Father constantly had their name to thank for that trait. Neo walked up to it, with Fox having waited a few paces behind, and paused with her hand hovering above the bell to the side. She waited an uncomfortably long time before Fox said anything to her.

"I believe in you Neo."

She glanced back and saw the beaming and reassuring smile on his face that made her know he wasn't lying and, on top of that, he meant what he said. With a noticeable breath but still looking at him, she leaned towards the door again and pressed the bell. No turning back now, the deed had been done. Rings could still be heard echoing through the halls as the faintest sound of footsteps were heard in the hallway. The mute woman took a step back from the door and readied herself, calming her nerves with slow and deliberate breaths. There was a rattling of chains on the far side of the door - no one had been outside yet, at least not going out via the front door. When the rattling stopped and the door finally opened, Neo was equal parts shocked, surprised and worried that instead of the expected familiar face of Lang greeting her, it was instead the just-as-familiar but unexpected face of her Dad.

"Hello, how c-" He stopped dead when he saw the person standing at his door, her arms folded behind her back nervously and rocking on her heels, further solidifying that fact. The door edged open slowly as the man comprehended what was in front of him. Neither of them made any attempts to talk to the other, physically or verbally, and Fox remained silent out of politeness - he felt him speaking would ruin the moment. The man shuffled forward, his arm raising up as he got closer to her. His hand floated by her face, scared to touch her in case he was wrong.

"...Orchid?"

By the time he finally spoke, he was too close for Neo to Sign her response, so she instead smiled, fighting back the tears and nodded to him. On cue, his hand finally closed the gap and touched her face. She leaned into the touch and with that everything clicked into place with the man. "My little flower!" He couldn't stop himself, he jumped forward and caught his daughter in a giant hug as he started crying hard onto her shoulder. She followed soon after, her emotions flowing just as hard. A tear fell from Fox's eye at the joyous sight, with more patiently waiting for the opportune moment to make the same journey down his face. "You're home... you're actually home." She forced herself back from his embrace to Sign.

{" _I've missed you Dad._ "}

"Oh, and I have missed you too Orchid," {" _my little pink flower._ "} He hugged her close once again, only noticing Fox when his eyes parted after embracing his daughter for the second time. "I'm sorry! Did you want to see me sir?"

"Actually, I've come with here with your daughter." The student walked up the steps to be on the same level as the other two. He held his own hand out to shake. "Fox Alistair." They shook, Fox felt that his grip was firm yet he still trembled slightly - probably from excitement

"A pleasure to meet you Fox." Without warning, the man caught him in a hug that forced an "Eek!" out of the scarred boy, something that made the petite woman silently giggle. "And thank you, for bringing my little Orchid home to us."

"I..."

~ _Accept the responsibility. It was your idea for **me** to be here instead of Cherry._~

"...I am glad I made you happy sir."

"Oh please, none of the formalities. My name is Oakley, and I'd like you to call me that from now on."

"Sure thing."

"Now both of you, come in. I know that there'll be a few other people in here who will be most pleased to see you Orchid." As her Father briskly walked, nearly jogged, back into the house, Neo looked at her boyfriend who was stood there with a great big smile on his face.

~ _You training to be scaffolding now?_ ~ Losing him on that one, he looked at her hoping that there was more to it than that. ~ _Then what's with the beam?_ ~ The grin came back in full force as he realised the joke.

"Not bad, but you may need to see Yang to improve your pun game when we get back."

~ _That... probably wouldn't go down well with her._ ~

"Good point." He moved closer, hugging her shoulder. "But I'm smiling because I knew that you being here would make them happy - and they are. I mean, look at your Dad. Speaking of, let's not keep him waiting."

~ _I mean, he can wait one more minute whilst I do something very important._ ~ She turned her body to fully face him, her eyes staring straight at his lips. With the unspoken message received and understood, Fox leaned down to kiss her as she raised herself on her toes to meet him in the middle. They maintained contact for a fair few seconds, many words, thoughts and feelings being sent through the contact. But even after all that, Neo still felt that there was something left unsaid.

~ _I love you Fox. For bringing me home._ ~

"I love you too Neo. And I'm happy you are home. Now, let's go meet the family, shall we?"

* * *

The hallway wasn't too special, but at least there was space for a couple of decent sized bags to be kept without worry of getting the way. By the side of the door was an umbrella rack, the same place where - providing they hadn't changed it since she had left home - would be the first place she picked up her soon to be weapon of choice. She placed her current weapon in there like it was second nature for her. There was a mirror on the wall on the left and the stairs to the first floor were on the right of the entrance. Hanging on the wall above a little mantelpiece by the mirror were a group of photos. One showed Neo's Father and her brother as he was graduating from Atlas Academy, another showed a much younger version of him and his wife hugging in the sun - clearly that photo was not taken in Atlas based off their attire, a third showed another man holding hands with a young pink haired child that Fox didn't recognise immediately, but after looking at the final photo he realised that it was Orchid. The final photo was a classic family photo; the five of them were grouped together against a very formal and professional backdrop, Orchid at the front as she was smallest, then her Mother, then Vinnie, her Father and finally the other man - who Fox had deduced was her Uncle Lang.

~ _I was no older than 13 at the time,_ ~ she reminisced, touching the frame and being reminded of the time it was taken. ~ _My brother was accepted into the Huntsman programme a few days before, so Mom made a decision that we should get a family photo done - it was the last time we ever did._ ~ The sadness could be heard in her inner voice as she brushed the frame once again. ~ _We weren't a bad family. Bad things just happened to us so frequently it wasn't even funny anymore._ ~

"Don't be so down on yourselves. Lots of people only remember the amazingly good things and the tiniest bad things. Sometimes you've got to remember the smaller victories as well." He continued to walk down the hall where her Father had gone as she remained where she was for a moment longer, still looking at her own face in the photo. It was younger, obviously, and full of so much more life than she showed a lot of the time. Promising herself that she'd get back to that, she walked further into the house, her old home, to where her Father and Fox had entered.

"This is Fox Alistair," she heard her Dad saying as she approached, "and he has done something marvellous today Yubae." Hearing the name of her Mom being spoken made her even more anxious to enter than she had been outside, however that was possible.

"Please sir, I did nothing. And I don't want to ruin the surprise for you, so I'll let _them_ do the 'talking' from here on out." ~ _The stage is yours Neo._ ~ Slowly, she eased her way around the corner and pushed her way into the room. Oakley stood there with a proud grin on his face, saying, "I cannot believe my daughter is home!" with just the expression, though even if asked he would say to them what he hoped would be conveyed on his face.

Neo's mother, Yubae, brought her hand up to her mouth as her eyes shot wide open. She was smaller than her husband, but not by much. Her hair was a much more radiant pink than Neo's, either because of the pink was solely in her genes and not completely so in Neo's. Also, Neo has _heterochromia borealis_ , which also affects her hair colour, most likely making it naturally paler all over and even gave her hair a few light-coloured streaks. Yubae's eyes matched her irises. Looking between her and her husband, Fox could clearly see where Neo's distinct colour palette came from.

"Is that... our little Orchid?" the woman managed through growing tears.

{" _Hi Mom,_ "} was all she got out before the older woman got up and threw her arms around the girl she knew was her daughter.

"Oh Orchid, I never thought I was going to see you again. You, as in _you_ you, not Cherry or whatever name you gave-"

"Yubae, I think she understands what you meant."

"Sorry hunny, I just..." she pushed herself back to look at her daughter again, now no longer the teenager she was when she left but a woman in her own right. "I'm so happy to see you again."

{" _Me too. But I wouldn't have done this without Fox's help._ "} Both Russets looked at the copper haired boy standing near the door, small and curious smiles on their faces.

"And what are you to our daughter Fox, to help her with this?"

"Um..." As friendly as they attempted to sound, the question came off as incredibly to the point, and lowkey threatening as a result - they're Neo's parents alright.

~ _Not yet pretty boy, we've got to meet the others first._ ~ {" _Where's Vinnie and Uncle Lang? I want Fox to meet them first before we spill the life story._ "} A pair of pink and a pair of brown eyes widened at the question; they knew it was coming but they still weren't prepared for it.

"They're otherwise occupied. Your brother Vinnie was on a mission with the Academy and Lang is heading out to get him."

{" _Hmm... 8/10, very convincing. But all the Academies are off on a break at the moment and the car is still on the driveway. Plus, Fox here is a Huntsman-in-Training._ "}

"That's nice and all, but why are you-"

{" _His semblance allows him to see the Aura of people around him, even through walls and ceilings and the like._ "}

~ _Neo, it can't do that._ ~

~ _Shut up and roll with me on this one._ ~ {" _So, if I asked, he could check and see whether or not their Auras were floating around here._ "}

"Young lady," her Father spoke, slipping right back into the role of parent to a daughter with ease, "you have just arrived in this house, I do _not_ expect you to be threatening us like this."

{" _It's not a threat, Dad. I'm just saying that I can get Fox to check if you're lying about them being here or not._ "} The confident façade Oakley had put on with his last sentence was already gone. That worried Neo more than anything else before, her Father was a strong man who wouldn't back down so easily. Even when he felt responsible for her loss of voice, he stood up and essentially declared his guilt rather than run away and pretend he had nothing to do with it. ~ _That's not like him. Fox, say something. Anything that'll help._ ~

"Oakley, there must be something the matter. Your daughter spoke about you before today, and she said that you were always so sure of everything you said and did. That honestly didn't look sure. Believe me, I've seen that before; one of my teammates was so shy when we first met her, but over time she grew and became as comfortable with us as she did her own family. However, when that shyness rears its head again we know something is off before words even leave her mouth. So please Oakley, or Yubae; tell us. Ne- Orchid is your daughter, she ought to know. We're here to help if you need." The adults looked at each other. They held each other's hands, gave each other an approving look then turned to their daughter and her friend.

"Vinnie's home." Yubae found it hard to talk about it, her words feeling very forced in her throat. "As is Lang. That said, he's... feeling very low. We've kept him in bed against his near pleas to be up and about helping, but we have refused. That doesn't mean it is great, it simply means it's not terrible. They're upstairs, I'm sure your friend will be able to tell you where they are." Said friend's dark copper eyes shot the mute a look that she simply shrugged at.

"Thank you," he said, turning to leave with Neo. She wasted no time, grabbing him by the hand and essentially dragging him up the stairs to find them, a gesture he's sure he heard her parents discussing as they left earshot. A few coughs from behind the closed door of one of the rooms gave the petite woman a pretty solid idea of where they were without needing to ask her boyfriend to look for them. She knocked a couple of times to get the attention of the two in there.

"Come in, it's open." The voice behind the door was strong and confident, it was the voice of an Atlas student for sure. The couple walked into the room to see Vinnie sitting in an armchair by a bedside whilst Lang lay in bed resting. When his eyes saw his sister for the first time in nearly 9 years he had a hard time processing what he saw. Eventually he could form words once again to express his feelings. "Well I'll be damned, you're home. Actually you this time." He looked at Fox, greeting him properly. "Vinnie, Orchid's sister. And you are?"

"Fox Alistair, Orchid's friend from Vale."

"Vale; so that's where you've been all this time. I was unsure if you were there or if you'd returned to Mistral like 'your close friend Cherry' said you might do." Neo's head cocked slightly to the left.

{" _Wait, so none of you know anything about what happened in and around Vale over the past months?_ "}

"...Should we have listened? Is something coming?" he questioned, the sweat growing on his forehead at his anxiousness.

{" _Nothing we don't know of, so you're all fine It just means that Fox and I have a lot of storytelling to do when everyone's together._ "} Her attention hopped from her brother to the figure in the bed. {" _Speaking of which..._ "} She walked over to the bed to get a better look at the occupant of it.

There in the bed lay Lang, the family butler that was treated so normally that he acted, and essentially was, another member of the family. His hair, once luscious and raven in colour, started greying and thinning down by the time she had left back then. Now, having not seen him for such a long time, she realised just how grey and rundown he had become in her absence. There was barely any way to recognise his former hair colour without prior knowledge of it and his face now sported a messy and unkempt beard, yet even through the facial hair she could tell his face was much thinner, like he hadn't been eating. She rested her small hand on his shoulder in an attempt to start shaking him slightly to gain his attention, but his hand shot there the second hers made contact shocking the young woman.

"Is that my little flower, Orchid?" He spoke with quite a hushed but hoarse voice, like he hadn't used it in a while and speaking was a struggle, but the genuine curiosity and excitement could be heard anyway. Nodding, she pried her hand from under his to talk to him.

{" _It is Uncle Lang. I'm home for now. I came to see you all again._ "} The man sat up in bed and smiled at her, holding his hand out for her to take which she did.

"I am so happy to see you again Orchid. I have missed you so, more than I dare to admit sometimes. But you are home now, and I couldn't ask for more." The pleasant atmosphere was broken by the butler's sudden bout of coughing. Both Fox and Neo looked at him with a twinge of panic, that didn't sound remotely healthy.

"Rest Lang, just rest," Vinnie jumped in to stop the pair expressing their concerns at this moment. "Orchid will be back soon, you need to rest."

"But Orchid is here Vinnie, I would like to speak with her."

"She will be speaking to you later, do not fear. For now, have some medicine and rest; she will speak to you again." The grey-haired man looked at the girl in front of him.

"Do you promise me Orchid, that you will definitely come to speak to me?"

{" _Of course Uncle Lang. I have a lot to talk to you about and, whilst I'd prefer to tell everybody at once, if I get some time to spend with you alone, then I don't mind telling it a second time._ "} Her grin was punctuated by a single tear falling from her brown eye. Lang reached out and wiped the tear away.

"Now, now. No tears my little flower. Today is a happy day. It-" another coughing fit cut the happy moment with a knife. Neo lowered Lang back down to laying position to give him some time to rest.

{" _Later Uncle Lang. I promise._ "} She kissed the tips of her fingers and placed them on his forehead, wincing ever so slightly at how warm he felt, then left the room with Fox and Vinnie. Shutting the door once they'd passed through, she quickly asked her brother about his condition.

"He's been very steadily been getting better, and I mean _very_ steadily. He's had this for nearly a month now with very little signs of fast improvement. It's just... it's shit, I know. But Mom has told me plenty of times that Lang is a strong person. Even after you left, he didn't let it get him down. This is a cough, he is going to make it through this." With a smile of understanding, the trio walked back downstairs to the kitchen where Yubae and Oakley still waited.

"How's Lang fairing Vin?" his Mother asked in a hushed voice, Neo and Fox out of earshot as Oakley spoke to them elsewhere. With a small sigh, he answered.

"Not great Mom," he replied, more truthful with his mother than his sister. Lang was always closest with Orchid, they all knew this, and if she really knew how he was fairing, she probably wouldn't leave his side. "He's not responding to medication as well as before; if I'm being completely honest, we're stretching his days left now rather than fighting for them."

"That's okay sweetie, we'll push on through. Lang is part of the family, we treat him as such, and so we shall look after him like he is part of the family." It was clear to all that she wasn't 100% convinced about her own words, but she said them with conviction regardless.

"It's just fate, don't you think?" Vinnie asked after a lull in their conversation.

"What was that sweetie?"

"Orchid. Turning up now. It's fate."

"Yes," she admitted, seeing her daughter around the corner and walking towards her, sadness laced in her words, "I guess it is fate."

"Now," Oakley said breaking the silence that began to fall on the room without Yubae and Vinnie in it, "I don't believe Orchid came here to stand around looking miserable. She and Fox must have quite a few stories to tell. This _is_ the first time she has brought someone home to see us."

{" _Dad!_ "} she signed, her embarrassment coming through in how she glared at him. The man simply laughed, then gestured towards an adjacent room.

"Come, let's sit and talk. Would either of you two like a drink of any kind?"

"No thank you."  
{" _I'm fine Dad._ "}

"Suit yourselves. Get seated, I'll make some drinks for the rest of us." He went to the kettle to boil the water whilst the remaining four people wondered into the living room. Fox looked around upon entering and saw that it kept a very similar style to the rest of the house he'd seen - very plain in design with muted but still fairly strong colours ever present. In this room, there was a triple seat sofa and two single seat chairs as well, along with a few coffee tables around as well. They were made of leather, but not the white leather he hadn't realised he'd been expecting to see. Instead they were a nice healthy brown colour, mixing in with the complete contrast of this family's break from the stereotype that is an Atlas family. Yubae and Vinnie sat on either ends of the triple seat whilst Neo sat in one of the chairs and Fox stood behind it. After a couple of minutes, Oakley joined them carrying three cups of warm drink on a tray.

{" _You look so much like a typical butler Dad._ "}

"Well Orchid, with Lang out of commission the way he is, we each picked up a large portion of what he used to do. I've become quite good with balancing lots of things on a tray like this." He smiled at his daughter, knowing that she always looked up to their butler as an Uncle, seeing him and being with him more than she was with either him or his wife because of their jobs and other commitments when she was still at home. "But enough about me, tell us about you Orchid. There must be some fairly exciting news if you- if your friend Cherry - hadn't contacted us in over two months." Setting the tray down on the floor as he took his seat, Oakley held his own warm cup in his hands looking at his daughter in anticipation of her stories.

{" _Well... there are a fair few since the last time Cherry came here. Not all of which are great... Interesting, sure. But not great._ "}

"If they are interesting, then I look forward to hearing about them," Vinnie commented.

"Where would you like to start Orchid?"


	35. Long Overdue Catch Up

{" _I might as well start from the beginning, everything kind of falls into place from there._ "} The mute gave a quick glance at her boyfriend who smiled and nodded at her.

~ _Go for it Ni. They might as well know everything._ ~

~ _Absolutely everything?_ ~ she teased, smiling externally.

~ _You know what I meant, you filthy minded individual._ ~

~ _Yeah, I did. I'm_ _ **not**_ _telling them about that._ ~ {" _When I first got to Vale a while ago, I told you about my friend Roman, didn't I?_ "}

"I remember you talking about him, and I said he was trouble based on what we'd seen and heard about him." Both parties had promptly dropped the idea that Neo/Orchid and Cherry were two separate people, but rather were one and the same, even though all the stories that were being told were told _about_ Neo _by_ Cherry like she was some sort of owl passing notes between the two. Yubae stood firm with her decision and comment.

{" _Well, you were right. I always mentioned what we did, but never what he was like at other times. He wasn't physically abusive - he couldn't be because I'd break his fingers, at least - but that didn't stop him from humiliating me at any opportunity he got._ "} The pink haired woman was clearly in two minds about how to feel; that 'I told you so' feeling lasted about as long as she could go without breathing before she realised that her daughter had just admitted to being emotionally abused by someone who she had mentioned she enjoyed being around. {" _But anyway, there was a job that he was tipped off about, so_ _ **his**_ _boss came to him to get him involved. It was clear that her inviting me was done more out of a need to bring me along rather than a genuine want to do so. We found out from his boss that_ _ **her**_ _boss needed the item that we were going to steal for her schemes; The Parchment of Volentes._ "} The two adults gasped, knowing of the Parchment from their own lines of work.

"Orchid, what did you do with that thing? Where is it?" Oakley spoke with both concern and worry; concerned for his daughter's safety, worried for what her answer might be. "Has the wish been made? Who wished for it, we need to know Orc-"

"Oakley dear, you're rambling."

"Sorry..."

{" _I plan to explain it all, don't worry. You still following Vin?_ "} Her elder brother gave a shrug with a bob of the head.

"I guess I am, it sounds so... supervillain-y to me." Neo's expression and half shrug was very obviously her way of saying "kind of" - Cinder wasn't exactly subtle with her delusions of grandeur and want for the nefarious. "Just don't over complicate things or say lots that I have no clue what you're on about."

{" _Aww, it's okay Vinnie. I won't go too fast so your ickle biddy brain can process the small bits of information I give you._ "} The boy's face dropped to an expression of complete disinterest.

"I'm still 40 months older than you."

{" _I can still kick your ass into next week._ "}

"Children, that's enough." Their Father brought them back to the conversation at hand. "So... you saw the Parchment?"

{" _Kind of... look, I've still got a little more to explain, can I do that first?_ "} She was given the go-ahead. {" _The plan was for the boss, a woman named Cinder Fall, to touch the Parchment and gain her wish. But there was a team of Huntsmen and Huntresses-in-Training that tried to stop us._ "} She looked at Fox, who stood there as a small grin ghosted his way onto his face. {" _And that team was Team CFVY of Beacon, one member being Mr Fox Alistair here._ "} The scarred boy waved, providing an ultimately unsuccessful attempt at bringing the lighter side of the conversation forward considering he knew how the story went and that it wasn't exactly material you'd want to be sharing to your parents, especially adding to the fact that it was from one of their family's own perspectives.

"What did you do Orchid?"

{" _What didn't I do? I didn't follow the agenda, for one. The plan, as I said, was to get Cinder to touch the artefact and then escape. I didn't do that; I went after it myself._ _ **I**_ _touched the Parchment... and Fox did as well._ "} The room fell silent after the gasp that came for far too long.

"Mom, what so significant about-"

"The Parchment of Volentes is essentially a Genie in a Bottle. The person who touches it is judged by the Spirit within its words. If deemed worthy, that person can make the wish of their dreams. Otherwise they..." the words never came, which put Vinnie on edge even more.

"'Otherwise they' what?"

"They die, Vinnie." Fox spoke for the first time since the conversation started, but it was clear to him that beating around the bush would get them nowhere fast, and they had a lot of ground to cover. "Their body is disintegrated and the Parchment itself vanishes from existence for a century or so. It's so the person who made the wish couldn't be resurrected soon enough to get another wish from it."

{" _One thing they_ _don't_ _mention however is what happens when two people touch it together. From experiences of pain before, I can say that there is no pain like it. And after that pain came... death. And I meant that in the most literal way. Mom, Dad, Vinnie: I died. As proof, I have a copy of the paperwork that officially marks my death._ "} She picked a file from her Scroll that when her family read it saw that it was indeed an official document from the staff at the Vale General Hospital declaring 'Neo' dead.

"You're officially dead?" Vinnie asked, trying to clarify everything in his own mind. Neo confirmed his question. "That's... neat, I guess... Neo." He small smirk grew on his face at the revelation that _that_ was the name she had given herself; even as an adult he wasn't above a little bit of big sibling teasing.

"Vinnie, not the time..." The Atlas Graduate got a look from his Father that immediately stopped him from continuing. That, and the daggers that were being stared at him by both his sister and her friend.

{" _From that incident came a whole bunch of things. For starters, due to reasons unexplainable by even our own resident coffee-fuelled madman of a Professor, Doctor Oobleck, Fox and I can talk to each other in our heads._ "}

"Okay, I take back my previous comment; _that_ is neat!"

"Vinnie, I said that now-"

"Actually Oakley, that is rather interesting."

"Yubae..." he almost whined, confused as to why his wife was taking their son's side.

"Tell me Fox," the woman continued, her pink eyes staring at the boy, "what does my daughter sound like to you?"

"I'm not sure how to explain it." The second those words left his mouth, he realised that they were to be false in the imminent future as all four other pairs of eyes in the room stared at him basically demanding him to explain. "That's to say... I couldn't before. But now, I'd say it's... a lot like yours Yubae. It was soft and comforting, but could very easily turn on a dime and drag you kicking and screaming away to your doom - the unpredictability of the person coming forth in the voice is astounding, especially considering that was all I had to go on for months." The Russets all glanced between each other, then their daughter, then Fox, then back at their daughter. Neo just stared wide eyed at Fox, then when she glimpsed her family looking at her she decided to acknowledge the corner of the room's presence with her gaze. "Ooh... I kinda jumped the gun there, didn't I?"

~ _Just a smidge, you idiot._ ~

"It was an honest mistake!"

~ _Oh right, should have seen_ _ **that**_ _excuse coming..._ ~ she couldn't keep a straight face as a playful smirk grew.

"Sight jokes? Now? _Really?_ "

"Sorry if we're intruding on something," Oakley said in a manner that was anything but sorry, "but now that you have proven to us that you can indeed communicate telepathically, would you mind telling us what exactly you meant by 'all you had to go on'."

"Okay. So, from birth I was blind. Near complete blindness - anything a hand's width away was in indistinguishable blur. I could tell you what was light and what wasn't, and I'd only know what things looked like if they were right in front of my face, but even then, I'd have a tough time doing so. There was a long stint of time where your daughter grew interested in me and I was completely oblivious, because I couldn't see the signs - and I say that in the most literal of senses. This was after we were both told by the Headmaster, Professor Ozpin, that we needed to do things together to keep the Parchment... um... satisfied?" The uncertainty in which he spoke didn't calm the nerves of the others present. "Before you hang, draw and quarter me, let me explain further; the Parchment is meant to be a single item, but us both touching it at the same time made it need to split itself in half as clearly it deemed us both worthy to do so. But that was never meant to happen, it's only ever supposed to be a single item. So, it kind of... forced us to be together on two separate occasions."

{" _He's right; two times where there were basically no controls on our bodies and we threw ourselves at each other for a minute before reality kicked in._ "}

"It was weird..."

"Not as weird as being told a story of your sister having her 'instincts removed and her throwing herself onto someone because a mystical item made them do it'. I'm going to have nightmares for weeks." Vinnie shuddered, then took a sip from his cup, the drink inside on the edge of 'too cold to be enjoyable any more'.

" _Anyway..._ after that we actually did start hanging out a little more and trying things that may stop it from doing that to us." Neo finished the sentence for him, deeming the inevitable revealing of this information coming from Fox to be a poor choice on their part, but coming for her... a less poor choice.

{" _We got close, we grew feelings for one another, and we've been dating for a little while now because of it._ "} She finally thought now was the right time to do this; she reached back and placed her hand on the chair and Fox, who saw what she was doing, moved his hands to rest on top of hers. Oakley and Yubae couldn't keep up their serious acts anymore, they broke the second they watched how honest they looked together.

"Orchid, that's wonderful!" her Father exclaimed.

"We are both so proud of you!" her Mother added with a large hug of her daughter, something she really wasn't expecting at all. "It's been so long we've waited for you to bring someone home. It doesn't feel like a home until that happens in your life, I think." Neo started blushing, unsure of what to feel, but 'Embarrassed' was as good a place to start as any. "Sorry dear, have I stopped your flow?" There was a slight shrug from her daughter. "Oh sorry, please go on Orchid." Her Mother sat back down, hers and Oakley's hands meeting with a proud look on both of their faces.

{" _So, after we started dating we both thought I'd still be a good idea to stay close to one another to keep the urges at bay, which we did. After we helped one of his teammates defend his home village from a giant Grimm - we'll explain later - and I helped make a dress for another one, we were there falling asleep and I mentioned to Fox how I wished he could have seen how happy everyone looked at the dress. The Parchment, obviously only being there to grant one person's wish, needed both parts to be near each other and for both parties to want the same thing for the wish to work. Deep down, Fox mentioned that there's always a part of anyone who is handicapped in some way, be them blind, deaf or mute who wants to be normal, wants what everyone else has. Me saying, or rather me_ _ **thinking**_ _the wish was all it needed. We woke up the next morning and it had been granted._ "}

"And do you want to know the first thing I saw when I woke up? Other than my own hands, the very first thing I noticed was your daughter's eyes. They shone in the morning light and I remember saying how beautiful they were. Even only having sight for less than a week, I have still yet to find anything natural or otherwise that could make me retract my statement of them being the most beautiful thing I've ever seen."

"Wow... that's... just, wow... I'm at a loss for words Fox. That's a lot to take in all at once..." Neo's older brother was evidently still trying to process everything even now.

~ _Maybe we over did it a bit?_ ~ the boy asked.

~ _Nah._ ~ {" _Perhaps a little_ "} she signed, trying to lessen the blow for him in front of her family, despite not really caring about it in their heads. {" _There's a few more stories we've got to share, but - if it's okay with you - we'd like to stay for a couple of days; Fox has never been to Atlas before so I wanted to show him round, get him to meet you, etc. Plus, I'd be a nice change of pace from the usual dump of stories in an hour or two then disappearing for months at a time we've gotten used to._ "}

"Sweetie, of course it's okay for you two to stay here. Use your old room, we haven't touched a lot in there but we have redecorated it so there may be a few odd things missing."

{" _Thanks Dad._ "} She glanced round at her blood family and smiled. {" _I love you all._ "} Jumping towards them, she hugged the one in the middle with the outer two wrapping around th pair of them. Her Mother echoed the statement.

"And we all love you back Orchid. Truly. And we're so happy to have you home."

* * *

Fox was the first to the door to Neo's old bedroom. A twinge of jealousy came across him when he opened it saw the size of the room, even though this was a modest (for Atlas) sized house with modest (again, for Atlas) sized rooms. He shut his eyes and burst his Aura out, reading the room. Whilst the new, 'bog-standard' sight was good and all, nothing beats the classic, his 'special sight'. The standard burst wasn't going to make it throughout the entire room, so he would have try extra hard to give himself some more range on his ability; that wouldn't be necessary now, the comparison had already been made. The fact the room _needed_ him to go for anything more than average beans to view it all like that was all the evidence - that and his actual sight - he needed to conclude, this place was bigger than his room ever was.

~ _Fox, I know that if becoming a Huntsman fails, you wanted to change careers and become a door, I will respect your choices and career path._ ~ Dark copper eyes turned to see Neo with her hands on her hips waiting impatiently to get into the room. ~ _But can you please wait until **after** I'm inside before following your dreams?_~ Smirking, he turned back to face into the room as he said,

"Y'know, just for that, I think I might as well just take my- aah!" The ironic thing was, when Neo swept him off his feet, he was left hanging on to her carrying him bridal style through the doorway. Putting on an act, Fox continued. "Thank you hun. I don't know what I'd do if you weren't there to sweep me off my feet every-" he was suddenly and unceremoniously dropped on the floor "...day." The look he gave her was not one of satisfaction, if anything it leaned much more towards betrayal. She noticed, then smirked just as he did not a minute before.

~ _I'm sorry, did you say something?_ ~

"I was trying to be nice, you _did_ essentially just carry me over the threshold into your old room." The moment he mentioned that, the mute's miscoloured eyes opened as wide as they could go and her cheeks started flushing red as the reality of what she had just done dawned on her. She spun around very quickly and hid her face from him, trying her best to hide her embarrassment. "Just teasing you Ni. Though to be fair, you were the one who initially brought up the idea of them being future In-Laws for me."

~ _I... yeah, I guess I was, wasn't I?_ ~ The way Fox's expression changed from one of amusement to one of triumph showed that he'd won that little conversation. ~ _But it feels right though._ ~ The triumphant look faded quickly and was replaced with confusion now. ~ _Have you ever had an idea or wanted something that you thought was a good idea at first, but then as time moved on you realised "Hmm... maybe not"? But then there are the times that things just fall into place and you know that it's right. This was one of those. Sure, I was nervous about seeing my family again, but none of those nerves had anything to do with you meeting them. Honestly, it felt like you'd already met them, despite only knowing about them for a few days. Marrying you wouldn't feel wrong, doesn't feel wrong. I know you've said that if that happens it's a long way off from now, but I'd be willing to wait._ ~ Neo was surprised when Fox brought her into a warm and loving embrace after that, she only realised she hadn't been looking at him for most of that when the hug came out of nowhere for her.

"See, I think I'm rubbing off on you a bit."

~ _Well..._ ~ the got a gentle flick on the forehead.

"No. Trying to be serious here." She apologised and let him start again. "The way you convinced me just then that it would be all good if we got married in the future. I'm fully onboard with it. I'll admit, I never thought I'd find someone like you or even remotely close to you. But now I have, I don't want to lose it. 'Soul mates by technicality.' Remember that?"

~ _How could I forget? Coco teased me something rotten when she found out that little trinket of information._ ~

"Oh really? How could _she_ tease _you?_ You're normally the one doing the teasing."

~ _When I was Velvs' "study buddy", we talked about you a fair bit._ ~ They broke the hug to go and sit down on the bed. It hadn't changed since she last slept in it all those years ago; the mattress had probably been changed in that time, it was a little softer and bouncier than she remembered it being. ~ _Nothing bad though. I mentioned even then that I thought you were... kind of... cute._ ~ He let out a little chuckle, the confession not fazing him. That was a relief. ~ _Apparently, according to the others, I couldn't take my eyes from you at times, though I don't ever remember those times. You wouldn't stop reading that book, and you were so engrossed in it that you clearly didn't notice either._ ~ A smile ghosted its way onto her lips as she recounted the events. ~ _In those moments with the book, you were so concentrated and yet so relaxed at the same time. I'd done my absolute best to block my thoughts from your mind, but you had done no such thing for me, mostly because I was trying and you probably thought I'd disappeared from your life, right?_ ~

"Yeah... I was a bit harsh and blunt with people. You remedied that as well."

~ _But yeah, I heard you reading the book. Every character you gave a new voice, every time they spoke I knew who was speaking. Though you were reading very slow._ ~

"Force of habit with books like that; I was always taught to either read it slow or reading it twice, just to make sure I was getting it right. It was a-"

~ _A way of training the mind to get used to the feel of each letter and word, I know. Remember, I learnt to read braille in a day and a half to get you back for choosing the book over me._ ~ Fox genuinely gasped at that.

"Wait! So, you didn't know braille beforehand?"

~ _Didn't even know what it was before then to be perfectly honest._ ~

"And you taught yourself how to read it?"

~ _Uh huh._ ~

"In little over a _day?_ "

~ _Well, less actually. I also had to make my disguise for Bubblegum at the same time._ ~ Fox couldn't help himself for sitting there with his jaw agape.

"Dust, have I told you I love you?" he whispered after a long stint of silence.

~ _Not today you haven't. I'm hurt by that,_ ~ she said, playing with him a little and very clearly not meaning it.

"Well I do. I love you so much Neo. You learnt braille to get back at me for something that, to me at least, was fairly small and insignificant - clearly not to you else you wouldn't have done it. You are just... remarkable is all I can think of right now, but you deserve much better praise than that." She leaned in and planted a kiss on his lips, one he happily reciprocated.

~ _Remarkable will do, you sap,_ ~ she said, still during the kiss. Once they broke, Fox replied.

"But I still think you deserve more than that." She ruffled his messy copper hair with a grin.

~ _You always say such the nicest things. Now come on, let's actually get our stuff in the room, rather than leaving it out in the hall._ ~ When they got there, Vinnie was walking up to them. {" _Hey, Vin. What's wrong?_ "}

"Why must something be wrong? No, I just wanted to speak to Fox."

"Sure. What about?"

"Nothing much, I was just curious about your fighting style. I was wondering if we could have a friendly sparring match." Fox quickly glanced over at Neo, whose face was plastered with a smile.

"Going off your sister's grin, I assume there's no ulterior motive behind that request?"

"Well, maybe a small one. Nothing bad, I promise." The scarred boy folded his arms in front of him, showing his uncertainty at the situation but not opposed to hearing it out. "I'm a fair bit older than you; judging by the fact you mentioned Professor Ozpin and Vale, I'd be correct in assuming you're currently at Beacon Academy?"

"Yeah. Me and my team are finishing our second year come the summer." ~ _Didn't jump the gun that time,_ ~ he mentioned to Neo like it was some sort of an achievement.

~ _Expecting a medal?_ _There's still time for you to fuck it up though._ ~

~ _Have faith in my abilities, Silent-but-Deadly One._ ~

~ _Never call me that again; you make me sound like a fart._ ~

"I see," Vinnie continued, not having been privy to the pair's inner dialogue. "Well, I graduated a few years ago, but even when I was at Atlas my team never got to participate in either the 35th or the 36th Vytal Tournament. As such, I've never actually fought against a student from another school, former or otherwise."

"I've got you beat there, buddy," the Beacon student replied, uncrossing his arms as he became far more relaxed and at ease with their conversation, "my team sailed through the first two rounds of the 40th with ease. Didn't you watch this year's Tournament?"

"You can't exactly watch something when you're on a search and destroy mission with a bunch of others in the far North of Solitas, a place so away from everyone that we physically couldn't contact anyone past a certain point on our journey." Fox felt a little uneasy hearing that, feeling like he'd hit a nerve. Even Neo looked a little shaken at how her brother responded.

"I'm... I'm sorry for saying anything."

"It's fine, nothing to worry about. I mean, I'm still here, it's all good. No, I only saw the result. And before you ask, I had no idea about her either. Her being an android was a top secret, so much so that I'm pretty sure only her creators and herself knew of the fact." None of them knew about Ruby's knowledge of the fact. "But we digress; I'd like to see how you fight, and I'd like to get the chance to finally face another student that wasn't from Atlas Academy. It'd be a nice change of pace."

"Sure, I'm up for that."

Vinnie's expression improved upon hearing that. "Awesome. The back yard ought to be large enough - you don't use bullets, do you?"

"Well, I've been thinking about getting another upgrade soon to include it properly into my style, but for the most part, no I don't as of yet. Being blind kind of makes shooting people hard," he joked.

"Right, what was I thinking?"

"Vinnie, you've know-"

"Vin," he interrupted, "please. I trust you; you and Orchid are going to be a great couple. I can tell. From that alone, you've earned the right to call me Vin."

"Thank you. So, _Vin_ , you've known me less than an hour, and I'd dropped the 'I was blind once' bomb, like, fifteen minutes ago, at best. I don't care if you forget something like that; you have a reason, and a valid one at that."

"Thank you, Fox. I appreciate it. So, shall we say 5 minutes? Gives you a bit of time to get your things into your room for your stay before we spar." Fox looked pleased with himself somewhat, he felt that he'd clearly made a good impression and now was a chance to prove himself further, against a fully trained Huntsman no doubt. He extended out his hand for the eldest Russet child, if you could call a man in his late-20's a child, to shake and he did so. Neither tried to pull the power move of squeezing the other's hand tighter and Fox respected that from him.

"I think I'm going to enjoy this." They broke with a smile on each of their faces as they turned and went their own ways to prepare.

"By the way, Orc," Vinnie called over his shoulder, continuing towards his own room on the other side of the house, "I'm sure Lang would like to hear your stories too. Maybe you could do that whilst your boyfriend and I have our little match, save you picking favourites." The young man slowed down to a near standstill and turned to see his sister, just in case she wanted to say something.

{" _Okay, if that's what you want. But I bet you don't want me there because you'd get annoyed when I wouldn't cheer for you._ "} Vinnie stopped walking altogether for just a moment, clearly processing her comment, before muttering something along the lines of "Not dignifying that..." before replying with a much louder answer.

"No, Lang actually wants to see you and talk to you. I thought then would have been the perfect time to do it, and Fox can join you if I wipe the floor with him too quickly."

"Don't start trash talking unless you're going to follow it up."

"Remember, schoolboy, I am your senior in age and-"

"And nothing else, Vin." That last word mocked the trust that he had been given not a few moments ago. The young man in question narrowed his eyes and walked away without another word.

"Well, I think I won that one."

~ _The morale victory is yours, Fox; he only goes quiet like that when he's lost the battle._ ~

"Let's see if I can win the war as well then." He went quickly back into her room to ready himself.


	36. Last

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mild warning for character death. No surprises as to whom.

"Lang, Orchid is going to be in here with you, alright?" The butler nodded as Yubae moved out of the doorway to let Neo through, who didn't miss the opportunity to hug her Mother on the way in, surprising the woman.

{" _Make sure they don't kill themselves please Mom._ "} Pure pink eyes looked into the eyes of her daughter and saw how much she had missed them. The Heterochromia pink and brown of a young girl she still loved with all her heart, even after years of not seeing her. Even though she had seen her, it was never _her_ , just a fake persona of someone who bared an uncanny resemblance to her daughter, but it "wasn't her". She saw how her little flower cared for her boyfriend, and how much she clearly missed her family, so all Yubae could do was smile at the request.

"Of course, sweetheart. I know how much Fox means to you, I'll make sure he's safe."

{" _Vinnie too Mom. I love our family -_ _all_ _of it - I'd like to keep it if I could._ "} A brief wave of uncertainty flooded Yubae's thoughts, but she didn't let it show. Instead, her smile grew and she booped her daughter on the nose.

"I know, flower, I know. Now go on." Neo grinned as she walked into the room up to the chair by her honorary Uncle's bedside. Shutting the door, Yubae's smile faded the second it clicked shut. Turning around, she saw her husband Oakley downstairs waiting for her. "Do you think she should be told yet?" she asked, speaking in a far more sombre tone than she was when she was just talking in the doorway.

"I am... unsure if that's the best decision right now." As Yubae descended the stairs, Oakley's hands found their ways to his pockets. "Our Orchid is a smart girl, she always has been, and I'm sure that she could figure it out. But at the same time, I feel we'll _need_ to tell her before she leaves. It's not something I'd want kept from me, it's certainly not something Orchid would want kept from her, and considering it is Lang, it would be cruel of us not to do so."

"I agree, she saw him as an Uncle. She still does. But breaking it to her is going to be one of the hardest things we've ever done." She wrapped her arms around his middle for a reassuring hug, and he removed his hands for his pocket to hug her back.

"Not going to deny that fact." Placing a quick kiss on her forehead, the couple remained there for a moment, letting the time pass as they individually thought of what to do with regards to the situation at hand. Admittedly, they both were coming up with very few ideas of merit. "Come now, we can think about this later. For now, let's make sure the boys don't destroy anything out back, especially themselves." He let go with one arm as he started walking down the hall to the back door, one of his arms still over her shoulder whilst one of her arms remained round his middle.

* * *

{" _I've missed you Uncle Lang,_ "} Neo started. {" _I'm aware that I said that earlier as well, but I mean it. I missed you nearly every single day I've been gone, and even when I came back here, I couldn't see you to say it properly._ "} Internally Neo was cursing herself for not coming back sooner, and unbeknownst to her that was manifesting externally as well. She only realised when Lang took hold of her hands and started speaking to her.

"My little flower, I know you feel bad for not having seen me in such a long time. It has been tough for me too. But now we have some time and I am certain that you have a fair number of exciting stories to tell me, all of which I look forward to hearing about." A few short, but still unhealthy sounding, coughs later, Lang sat up a bit more in his bed and eased himself into a comfortable sitting position. "So, tell me, who was that boy you brought in here with you earlier?"

{" _His name is Fox, Fox Alistair._ "}

"Ah, a powerful surname; 'Defender of man', if my fading memory serves me right." He laughed at his own little joke, before his coughs broke his merriment. "And, is he one of your friends from before? I don't recall..."

{" _No Uncle Lang, he isn't. Those people, I wouldn't even call them friends anymore. Nothing close. They are people I had the misfortune of knowing for too long. No, Fox has been a closer and better friend in months than they had been in years. He's my boyfriend too._ "} Lang's piercing orange eyes lit up at the news.

"Oh my! Orchid, your boyfriend?" She nodded with a smile. "That is wonderful. I'm over the moon, you found someone that made you truly happy."

{" _There's more as well._ "} He may have been many, many years older than her, but that didn't mean that Lang would pass up an opportunity for some gossip. {" _So, you remember when I left home?_ "}

"Oh, how could I forget Orchid? My tears didn't stop for a whole day." This was new news to the mute, and tear jerking news at that.

{" _Really? You cried for that long over me leaving? I thought you said that all birds must fly the nest someday._ "} The corners of her eyes started filling up as Lang explained further.

"Why yes, I do recall saying that. However, unlike most birds, we still feel emotionally attached to those who leave. Just because you were leaving doesn't and didn't make it any less painful to see you go. It was like losing part of the family." A couple of chesty coughs were caught behind the smile that Lang tried to put on for her as tears started falling down her face. The bed bound man reached out and placed a hand on her upper arm, stroking it reassuringly.

{" _But anyway,_ "} she returned, still processing but determined to plough on through, {" _when I left, it was a few weeks before Initiation into the Academies, so I had essentially blown my chances at becoming a Huntress. Well... after the incident in Vale that led to Fox and I becoming a couple, the Headmaster of Beacon allowed me to enter the school under the knowledge that I cannot pass to the same high degree as anyone else in my year due to the time I did not spend there. That didn't faze me though, a pass is still a pass though I don't want to drag my team down and hinder our chances at better paid jobs in the future. So, yeah; I'm a student._ "} She grinned as she signed that, 'saying' it out loud made it sound so much better. Then she silently giggled. {" _I'm a student at the fresh old age of 25!_ "}

"My dear, that's wonderful. It does not matter that you're older, that surely hasn't affected people in the past."

{" _Now that you mention it, one of the girls in the year below must be a prodigy; she was initiated at just 15._ "}

Lang sat there aghast. "That is some skill she must have, to be entered into an Academy like that two whole years early."

{" _I mean, I've seen her fight. She's a little bit sloppy - that's what'd happen when you skip two years of training - but she has a skill with it that negates those missed years. I have only ever seen one other person wielding a scythe like that._ "}

"A scythe? At 15? My word, she must be a big 15-year-old, to carry and effectively use such a large weapon."

{" _Nope. She's taller than me, but shorter than Mom - I'm guessing about 5'2", 5'3" at best._ "} Lang had no words to describe what he felt. Ruby Rose had that effect on people sometimes. {" _But I see what you mean about me, age doesn't really matter. Sure, I can't graduate with the highest honours, but I can still officially become a Huntress now. I have a purpose again, and I can pursue it with the boy I love, and a team I can rely on._ "}

"And that, I believe, is all that you will need." His smile, even through the pain Neo knew he must be suffering considering how rough his coughs sounded, was warm and caring. It was a nostalgic smile too, one she had not seen for a long time yet brought her right back to her teenage years when something as simple as her Uncle Lang's smile made her day better. "What did your parents say about that news. Or Vinnie, for that matter? He must have been fairly shocked and surprised about you finally going to an Academy."

{" _None of them know yet. You were the first one I told._ "} The man couldn't help but let out a giggle. It was evident he wanted to laugh a little harder, but the sudden coughing fit into his hands stopped him from doing such. Neo was about to start signing when words finally made themselves known past the coughs.

"I see you still know who your favourite is my little flower."

{" _Only you, Uncle Lang._ "} The boop on her nose was a little uncalled for, but the hug most certainly was not. The smile on her face was a tell-tale sign of her contentment at being home. Unbeknownst to her, Lang looked at the hand he'd just coughed into, and was worryingly calm about that blood that was smeared across it.

* * *

"So, how's this for a battleground?"

"Impressive, I must say." Fox was taken to the family's backyard by Vinnie and he was thoroughly impressed by the scope of it all. For a backyard, the size of it easily rivalled the small arena that they fought in on a regular basis in Goodwitch's classes at Beacon, and he assumed Vinnie fought in when he was still at Atlas. "How'd you get this?"

"It came with the house." Whilst most likely not intentional, the older of the two spoke that in such a way that made it sound like it was singlehandedly _the_ most obvious thing in the entirety of Remnant. "You would need to ask my parents for the full reason why they wanted to get a house with an arena sized patch of grass in their back garden, but I assume it had something to do with the fact that I was showing interest in becoming a Huntsman, and Orchid was play-fighting with umbrellas with me back in our old house, so when we relocated they obviously took that into consideration." The man on home turf walked to one side of the large open space whilst the away combatant made his way to the other.

"Shall we go with tournament rules?" Fox questioned loudly so that his voice crossed the distance between them, fiddling with his bracelets.

"Gonna need to remind me what they are again Fox; it's been a while since I've been anywhere near that school so I'm not too versed in the ins-and-outs anymore." Vinnie twirled a small cylinder around his fingers as Fox rolled his eyes and recapped the essentials for their little spar.

"Tournament rules; first one out of bounds or with an Aura reading below 15% is declared loser. As we have no proper out of bounds, shall we say if you land on the flower border on those three sides or near the decking up here it counts as gone?" The young man nodded. "And remember, no guns."

"Couldn't if I wanted to," he bluffed, holding up the cylinder so that Fox could see it clearer.

~ _That can't be his weapon, surely._ ~ The once-blind boy stared at the object.

~ _That is his weapon,_ ~ Neo mentioned over their link, ~ _and don't call it Shirley._ ~

~ _Adding your signature charm to the fight, are we Neo?_ ~

~ _The Bo staff is named "Nante Kottai"_.~

~ _That's Mistrali. What the hell?_ ~

~ _That's what it means, actually._ ~

Fox stared at the Bo staff. ~ _Why would he do that?_ ~

 _~Because he thought it'd be hilarious._ ~

~ _Funny though, it looks just like the Parchment._ ~ Ozpin had, upon Fox's request, showed him what the Parchment looked like - he was reminded it's small gold hexagonal shape when he looked upon Vinnie's object, he daren't call it a weapon yet, but similarly why would he not bring his weapon to a sparring match? He shook away those thoughts and started calling the match to a start. He flicked his wrists and in with the movement of gears and parts the bracelets extended to their full form, his blades still extending close to his own elbows. "We go on 'Begin' right?"

"Sure," he smirked.

Fox began the countdown. On one, Vinnie flicked a switch on the side of the cylinder and it extended out to take the shape of his weapon. Fox stalled the count slightly on seeing the staff in all its glory before finally calling "Begin!"

Vinnie remained still, letting his opponent come to him. His weapon was a fuchsia and silver coloured collapsible Bo Staff that doubled as rifle when folded the right way. As a small item, the cylinder was easily 10cm thick and 18cm in length, but when it took it's weapon form it extended in length tenfold to 1.8m but compacted in width to no more than 3.5cm or so, still wide enough for a barrel. The thought of how he could fit such a large Bo Staff into such a tiny space crossed Fox's mind briefly, but then the possible (and most likely right) answer 'Atlas Technology' also crossed it, so he decided he needn't ask. The student took the first swing as he approached, aiming for a high strike on the man that was ultimately caught by the Bo Staff of his opponent.

 _He's got the range advantage,_ Fox told himself as he struggled for control, _that's going to be a pain._ The staff itself was almost as tall as the pair of them once fully extended and as such there would be very little chance to get in close, so the copper haired boy needed to find a weakness in Vinnie's fighting style and work with that. It wasn't going to be easy though, Vinnie had graduated Atlas Academy many years ago, back with the 35th Vytal Tournament, so he held many years of experience over Fox. He went for a kick to break his balance, but as the older of the two pushed him back he realised that there was no way the blow would have ever hit.

Once Fox had been forced away, he swung the Staff around to deliver what would have been a very strong smack to the side of the head. The scarred boy thanked the fact that he'd sparred with Velvet a lot, who was undisputedly the fastest of the four original members of his team, as he ducked under that first strike, then backflipped away from the second one that followed soon after. When a moment presents itself, you seize it - Vinnie did just that. He planted on end of the Bo in the ground where Fox once stood, then vaulted on his weapon to where Fox was going to be when momentum had carried him there and, sure enough, he landed a powerful and completely unavoidable sideways kick to Fox's abdomen that knocked the air out of him and sent him flying most of the way across the grass, skidding to a painful halt a few feet short of the flower border on the far side of the ring.

"Y'know I'm very happy to give you every chance to turn away and admit defeat. After all, that kick must have done quite a number on your Aura." Fox looked at his Scroll and tried his best to hide the shock when he saw that that single kick had knocked him down to 72% Aura from basically full when the match started.

"What," he wheezed, easing himself back up to his feet, "and walk away having thrown less than a handful of punches and kicks? Not a chance." He realised he was probably going to regret saying that and continuing, but the metaphorical shovel was right there and he felt compelled to start digging himself that hole.

"Suit yourself, but remember - I gave you the chance to leave." By this point, both Yubae and Oakley had left the house after their discussion at the bottom of their staircase and were standing on the decking right by the house to watch the young men sparring against one another. Vinnie taunted Fox by giving his opponent the 'come on then' hand gesture as he stood his ground unmoving. A tactical smirk came across the recovering boy's face as he shut his eyes slowly started advancing again. He'd sussed that he, much like Coco, preferred to keep his enemies at a distance rather than having to deal with them up close, but even if they did get close he had a Bo Staff that could extend over a metre further than Fox ever could. But he realised that Vinnie never moved from the spots he planted his feet; the only time he moved his feet when he went for the strike against Fox, and even that was a counter rather than a full-on attack. He wasn't being _proactive_ , he was being _reactive_ \- so much like his sister - and that was something that could be exploited.

The Beacon student was still getting used to the idea of using sight in a battle, so rather than trying to rely on a sense he was fairly unaccustomed to, removing the obstacle made everything seem so much more in his corner.

Fox picked up the pace, keeping to the ground and activating his semblance to get a better feel of Vinnie's Aura was 'saying'. He continued to read it as he got nearer, speeding up once again and locking eye contact on to him. Neither broke, neither broadcast what their attack was going to be first, and that's exactly what Fox wanted. By 5 metres, Fox was still running at him with no signs of slowing down. His Aura started showing cracks as he panicked at the lack of a window to strike. Within striking range of the Bo, Vinnie realised all too late that he hadn't reacted at all as Fox seamlessly brought his fist up from his run into his opponent's jaw. With that same momentum, he grabbed the far side of his top, leaving his arm draped across his chest and thrust the now airborne ex-Atlas student towards the edge of the arena with the help of his Aura.

' _'m not going to get another chance, I need to act now,_ the Beacon student reminded himself. He dug his foot into the grass before pushing himself off to catch up with his soaring enemy, who by this point had righted himself in the air and was on course to land on his feet but dangerously close to the edge. What Fox didn't expect was for the Bo to hit the ground first and for Vinnie to use is essentially as a springboard to bounce away from the edge and land near the centre of their ring. _Dust damn it,_ Fox cursed, skidding to a stop, _there goes my chance to win._

"Nice moves there Fox. But that's not going to happen a second time." In a move Fox wasn't expecting, Vinnie started walking (shock horror, I know). But considering how reactive he'd been up to this point, the fact he was now moving meant he was clearly swapping to a much more proactive approach. Suspicions were confirmed when the older combatant threw his staff towards Fox in a high arc and ran at him simultaneously.

 _Really wish I had guns now, this is prime target practice here._ Rather than planting himself like Vinnie had been doing, Fox shut his eyes and advanced too. He guessed that Vinnie had predicted that he was going to stay put, the Bo would land right in front of him then he'd strike from there, so doing this would make the weapon land behind and so there would be a Fox-shaped wall between him and his weapon. A huge disadvantage and a tactical boo-boo on his part. At least, that's what was thought, until Vinnie vaulted over Fox's head with a flip, grabbing the staff from its descending arc and smacking him with a strike much earlier than he's thought, knocking him over. _Okay, misjudged_ _ **that one**_ _a lot more than I should have._

There was no other time to think about things as Fox spun round only to have the barrel end of the staff thrust straight towards his head, the dodge being far more instinctive than anything else. The Bo wielder kept swinging and Fox dodged the next few strikes as well before he decided enough was enough. On the seventh strike, he blocked with his bladed gauntlet, and whilst it looked like he wasn't expecting it Vinnie continued, but as did Fox. He made more and more of an effort to block the strikes rather than dodge them, only doing so when he felt that blocking would do him more harm than good. Eventually the staff came down vertically and Fox blocked with both gauntlets crossing over. The struggle they had near the beginning replayed.

"You know how this ended last time Fox, make it easier for yourself."

"Not a chance; I've been taking in what you've been doing during our fight. I know your game plan, I know how you work and I'm going to turn it against you." Fox eased off the struggle slightly, giving the appearance of him losing ground.

"Really? Because to me, it looks like you're failing at doing that. What was your big plan anyway?" Fox smirked as he took that as an unofficial cue to enact it. In a quick, un-broadcasted motion, Fox's threw his arms open, grabbing the staff with one hand and pulling it towards him whilst pushing against Vinnie's hand with the other. That loosened the owner of the weapon's grip to the point where it was now essentially being used against him. First, Fox landed an upwards strike using the momentum of the exchange of control. Second, he chucked the staff out of both his and Vinnie's grasp and in the same motion caught him with an elbow to the neck. Third and finally, he landed a spinning kick to Vinnie's ribs that shot him towards the edge of the garden, hitting the fence. Vinnie pushed himself off to land on the grass, but by this point we would have lost anyway. His Aura may have taken the brunt of the force, but damn if it didn't still hurt. The older boy saw a pair of feet walking towards him, then a dark-skinned hand extending down to help him up. Looking up, he saw the smiling face of the boy who beat him.

"That. That was my plan." Yubae looked on from the house as her son sat on the ground in shock, then proceeded to start laughing like she hadn't seen him laugh in a long time.

"He looks so happy Oak. I think our little Orchid has most definitely found the perfect person."

"I couldn't agree more." They saw the young men laughing and embracing in a friendly hug, then Vinnie collected his weapon and walked back to the house with Fox.

* * *

{" _...we even had proper conversations about everyday things; I_ _never_ _could have that with Cinder and Roman and that lot. Honestly, the whole team is amazing Uncle. I feel so happy knowing that they're my teammates for the next two years._ "}

Neo eased back, relaxing against the headboard whilst she grabbed her warm drink and cupped it in hand. Neo had shot off very quickly whilst her brother and boyfriend were sparring outside and her parents were watching to run downstairs and grab both herself and Lang a drink, then when she got back he had scooted over to the right side of his bed so that she could sit atop the covers on the left side. Roles reversed from before, but otherwise it was just like old times.

"They do indeed all sound like an amazing group of people. I don't believe I have seen you this truly happy in so many years, ever since your hospital trip." Neo sat down her drink with a smile to talk again.

{" _I remember! I was hungry, so we stopped for some ice cream and you said-_ "}

"I'm only letting you have one ice cream. But before you start kicking and screaming, I have a better idea for you."

{" _Better than a strawberry or vanilla or chocolate ice cream?_ "} she answered, using the exact same phrasing as she did when the conversation originally happened between them.

"Yup, much better. It's an ice cream made just for you." He booped her on the nose, just as he had done all those years ago.

{" _For me? I get my own ice cream?_ "}

"Not exactly, but it's made for someone who likes them all but is only allowed to have one," he ruffled her hair, really getting into the re-enactment "and for people with multi-coloured hair like you too. It's called Neapolitan ice cream." The young woman's lips ghosted up to a grin when she remembered what her next line was.

{" _Neo-politan?_ "}

"Nearly Orchid. It's ice cream with all three of your favourite flavours in it at once." Whilst no sound was made, she still made the effort to look like she had just gasped.

{" _Really?_ "}

"Really..." he was quite happy that the coughing decided to wait until after everything was done before it came back in force. "I see you remember the conversation as vividly as I do," he managed, still hurting ever so slightly after the long coughs.

{" _How could I not? It was the first time you introduced me to Neapolitan which, to this day, is still my favourite food. I even named myself after it and after my mispronunciation back then._ "}

"I don't follow my flower, what do you mean?"

{" _Well, I didn't want you to be put in harm's way, so when I left, Orchid died. In her place was the person I am today, and I named that person Neopolitan, Neo for short._ " Hearing that news made the butler grin politely. " _Leaving was probably the single most difficult thing I've ever done - dying being second - but I didn't want to leave the memories of you behind forever, hence why I decided to name myself after the one thing I loved most from being with you all._ "} Hearing _that_ news turned that polite grin into a Cheshire Cat level, teeth-bearing smile.

"Orchid, you never failed to amaze me, even when you've been gone from home for as long as you have. I'm so happy I got to see you again, before-" his coughs conveniently cut off what he was about to say, but he had still said enough to make Neo want to hear the rest of it.

{" _Before?_ "} He wasn't able to continue, especially considering when Oakley came in through the bedroom door as Lang drew breath to speak.

"Now now, Lang," the man of the house closed the gap between himself and the bed far faster than he needed to, "I told you to rest easy for now." Changing the subject very quickly, Oakley looked his daughter in the eyes. "Your Mother wishes to speak with you downstairs now, if you wouldn't mind."

{" _Of course._ "} She grabbed her cup once again, then leaned over and placed a kiss on Lang's forehead before walking out of the room, shutting the door behind her.

"You were just about to tell her, weren't you Lang?"

"I was sir, yes."

"Lang, for the love of... we've said time and again you are family, you don't need to keep the 'Sir' and 'Madam' when just around us anymore."

"Sorry, old habits as they say." The younger and shorter of the two men sighed, placing a hand on his good friend's shoulder.

"I know. But Lang, I didn't think it was wise her learning about it from you. She wouldn't leave your side, and I dare say that it'd wreak her to know."

"But Orchid is a strong woman now Oakley, she would be okay. I promise." A teary smile came across Oakley's face.

"Oh, to have your confidence, even in your twilight days." The old butler smiled, not saying a word, because none were needed.

* * *

Yubae had opted to take Neo out of the house for their conversation, away from it all. There would be no denying that she would most likely race back home to be with him when she found out the news, so bearing that in mind she opted to stay as close to home as she could so that the journey might be made together, for ease of her own mind. They were taking a walk through the neighbourhood towards a large communal green a few blocks away from their house. It was decently sized with plenty of benches dotted about all over the place so that people could sit and talk if they wanted, or run around and enjoy what little warm sun they got up in Atlas if they wanted.

"It was being built when you first left, don't you remember?"

{" _Truth be told, no._ "} Neo admitted that parks and the like were never really her thing, especially considering she spent so much of her childhood having been secluded away from it all that as an adult it never appealed in the slightest.

"Well, it's become quite the little attraction around here. So rare nowadays to get something like this crop up, what with everywhere trying their hardest to build bigger and better structures for everyone." The mute nodded in agreement, then proceeded to continue on without wanting to communicate. It was her Mother who broke the silence though, and not soon after it had started too. "I know you're a smart girl Orchid, so you've most likely figured out that this wasn't going to be a nice little Mother-Daughter bonding outing, as much as part of me wants it to be; I've missed you and want to get used to seeing you around again." It pained her to do this, but Neo had to break the facts to her Mom.

{" _It wasn't going to be for long anyway. Longer than normal, sure. But I've been accepted into Beacon Academy as part of Fox's team, so we need to head back in a couple of days before classes start again._ "}

"I didn't know you were going to school now. That's fab Orc. When did you start?" Jokingly, the younger woman looked down at a non-existent watch with a determined face, working away at a small sum that she had already figured out, but was drawing out for maximum effect.

{" _About 20 hours ago, give or take._ "}

"Not long then?"

{" _Nope, came straight here after I told the rest of the team._ "}

"That's wonderful sweetie" she mentioned, pulling her daughter into a loving hug. "But back to the reason I brought you out here." Neo gave a single nod, telling her Mom to go on. "As you probably noticed whilst you were with him earlier today, Lang isn't exactly in the best condition. He's been coughing a lot and feeling very under the weather. Well, that's all for a reason." Yubae sat facing squarely forward, her head and body not even attempting to look at her daughter at the time. "Lang has got the late stages of a branch disease of DAG Syndrome, the same condition you have. The only difference is how it manifested with him. Everyone has an Aura, as we all know in our household, but Lang never had his unlocked so the disease remained unchecked for years. Had it been unlocked, maybe we wouldn't be here; we'll never know now. When he first collapsed on us, we rushed him straight to the hospital and gave us the information. It was fairly obvious once we took him to a doctor that he caught it very early on when you had it and lost your voice to it." She took her first glance to see how her daughter was dealing with the news and it was evident that it wasn't going down well, but she couldn't afford to sugar coat it or let only part of the information be heard. She ploughed on through to the worst part, the part that she knew would break her daughter's heart. "From that moment on it had been slowly eating away at his Aura from the inside, and after years of decay his Aura collapsed on him and now he's left completely vulnerable. They then gave us the bad news..."

 _That was_ _ **good**_ _news?_ Neo glumly thought to herself.

"... due to how far along it was, the damage was irreversible. Also, it most likely meant that... that his days with us were numbered." Tears that she didn't realise were forming started flowing down her cheeks as her daughter tapped her on the arm to get her attention.

{" _When was this? How long did they give him?_ "} Anticipating Orchid to run home, Yubae sat up straight.

"They gave him 3 months, and he's on track to meet that." Teary eyes turned to her equally teary-eyed daughter who was waiting on the second part of her answer. "That was nearly 3 months ago. When I spoke to him this morning, he said he believes he's only got a day or so left in him." The reality of that hit Neo like a charging Boarbatusk to the heart. Nothing moved, everything was in shock. She wanted to run home, but there was no doubt her legs would give way after a few steps. She wanted to scream and shout, but that has been out of the question for years now. All she could do was sit on the bench and silently cry painful tears into her Mother's shoulder. "Orchid my dear, I'm so sorry. Believe me, we looked for any trace of a cure but there is none. I wish it didn't happen many times over, but I know that number is far less than what you must be feeling." Her Mother wasn't wrong; Neo's thoughts were clouded over with memories of her Uncle Lang, the tall man in the family that did whatever he could to keep his little flower safe and sound back when she was younger.

{" _Is there nothing we can do at all?_ "} Neo pleaded, the desperation coming out as she looked her in the eyes. The slow shake of her head broke her completely. Sobbing was the only thing she could do now. After many minutes of non-stop sobs, the tears of pre-grief subsided. _Dear Oum, if I'm this bad now..._ she thought to herself, trying to make light of one of the worst situations imaginable. When her body finally decided to co-operate, she took her Mom's hand and started slowly making their way back to the Russet home.

I don't know if you've ever walked somewhere knowing that bad things would be awaiting you, but the walk for the two women was torturous. They each had a gut feeling that something bad was going to happen when they got back, so they were in two minds about rushing to get there quicker or taking their time to delay the inevitable. Fox made that decision for them, he came running along the street ahead, clearly looking for them.

"Hurry!" was all he needed to say. Neo gripped her Mom's hand tightly as she teleported twice, once to close the distance between her and Fox, and the second to meet him. Grabbing his hand as well, Neo blinked in and out of existence as fast as she could to get home in as little time as possible, her Mom and boyfriend in tow. When the house was in sight, Neo tried once more to snap a little closer, but she had exhausted all her Aura with the constant teleporting that this time she blinked half a metre ahead and then crashed on the sidewalk. Without really missing a beat, strong scarred arms scooped her up before she'd even finished tumbling and the legs attached to it started working, running fast to get there as quick as they could manage.

~ _Fox, how's-_ ~

~ _Just see him, Ni. It's all he's going to want._ ~ Fox glanced to his right and saw that Yubae was actually keeping very good pace with him, even with him forcing his legs to work harder by channelling Aura into them - she must be doing the same. The front door was ajar slightly and Fox used his shoulder to barge through it, then bounded up the stairs three at a time until he got to the room, where he finally set Neo down just outside. A quick kiss on the cheek was all she had time for as a thank you before the pair of them walked in, Yubae following very shortly after. Oakley and Vinnie stood by Lang's side, the man looking extremely pale and weak.

"Orchid..." He even sounded weak now.

{" _I'm here Uncle Lang, I'm here. It's okay._ "} He didn't see her at all, he just felt her hands hold on to one of his.

"I don't know what happened," Vinnie explained, tears in his own eyes, "he just went so fast. He was fine one minute, coughing up blood the next. I... I don't think he'll be around much longer."

"Are you there?" he asked again, the question breaking her heart to know his sight had deteriorated in such a short space of time.

"She's here Lang," Fox said for her, "we all are."

"Ah, so you-" the coughs sounded very watery, and when the hand was removed from his mouth the two students saw copious amounts of blood on them. "-you must be Fox Alistair."

"I am, yes sir." The dying man giggled; not too much though, he didn't want another coughing fit.

"It feels so weird being on the receiving end of a 'Sir'. Fox, this girl right here," he turned his head slightly as he held her hand up, "is the one thing in my life that I cherish the most. I love my whole family here, but Orchid holds a special place there. I want you to make her feel as special to you as she made me feel." His eyes parted, revealing cloudy orange irises - a far cry for the brilliant colour Neo remembered from her youth, or even from less than an hour ago. Lang took in the sight of Fox and Neo, he saw how opposing they were to one another: a tall, dark skinned boy covered in scars and a small girl with pristine white skin and not a scratch on her. "I know I am not your Father, Orchid, but know that should you ever consider marriage in the future, you have my eternal blessing if that person choses to be Fox." There was not a single dry eye in the room. Neo smiled weakly, knowing that she couldn't physically say goodbye even though she wanted to so bad. That didn't stop her from trying as best as she could.

"..." She cursed her silence. "..." Another curse. "..." By this point, she was holding onto Lang's hand so tight she didn't even hear his winces of pain through her own internal struggle.

"You have grown so strong Orchid," his head centred again, "you all have in the time I have been part of the family. No-" more coughs, worse than before (and that was saying something), "no one else could claim to have been part of a nicer family. I was one of your own, not a subordinate to your family. I _was_ family."

"And you shall remain so Lang." Oakley stepped in and rested his hand on the man's shoulder. "Even in death, you are a Russet." A single tear of joy trickled out from his eye as a smile crossed his face, his body relaxing into the sweet embrace of death.

"I shall... miss... you all... so... much..." With one final exhale, his body grew completely limp. Neo shot up and cried hard into Fox's chest, his own tears flowing over her hair and the three remaining people in the room hugging each other, also in tears, as Lang Russet passed from this world.


	37. In The Wake of It All

The funeral was the next day. Lang had known that he wouldn't last past a certain point, so he had been helping plan it with Oakley and Yubae. It wasn't the best experience in the world, helping their close friend plan his own funeral, but they believed that if it would make the man happy, then they would do whatever they needed to do. The service was intimate, consisting of the family and a few people who knew him from before he started working for Oakley. Contrary to the stereotype, the weather in Atlas was surprisingly pleasant for the funeral. Oakley read a eulogy recounting a few great moments they had shared together as friends. He rounded off in the sincerest and nicest way he could manage.

"Now, most of this part of the speech was written by Lang himself, so forgive me. He said, 'There are very few people in the world with such a kind and caring heart, and whilst we, the Russets, have some of the biggest hearts around. But the biggest of them all by far was..." he chocked slightly on the tears that were forming, "...was the heart my employers' daughter, Orchid.'" Neo's head raised, her puffy eyes looking at her Father from where she sat. "And I agree with him wholeheartedly on that statement. She may have left home and our lives a long time ago, but in that time, she showed more heart and soul than anyone else in our house. Lang continued, and I quote directly again, 'Orchid was truly an amazing young girl. She did everything she could for whoever she could, whether it be family or close friends. She was struck with a disease that cost her the use of her voice, leaving her mute; but that just made her actions all the more poignant. She learnt how to say what she wanted to say through her actions and over time I grew to love that more and more, even more than I already did. When she left home, a piece of me left with her.' Lang went on to say that to see my daughter Orchid one last time would let him die in peace, let him pass from this world happy. All I can say on that matter is that Lang died surrounded by his family, as a Russet, with our little flower Orchid by his side at the end. Thank you." Those in attendance clapped at the speech; all but Orchid, who remained there with tears in her eyes and a shocked expression on her face.

The wake was also very uneventful, all things considered. Yubae mentioned how he was to be buried in a few weeks' time, Lang's old friends spoke about him fondly to the family, there were small bits of food around but ultimately Neo remained away from it all, Fox doing no more than being there for her. The couple left early, saying they were going to go back to the house and wind down a bit. Returning home, Neo stripped off her Mother's borrowed dark dress and black hat, threw on a pair of pyjama bottoms and a t-shirt and flopped onto her old bed.

"Ni, you doing alright?" Fox asked, tie undone completely and the first three buttons of the shirt he'd borrowed from Vinnie already undone as he was working on the fourth as she spoke.

~ _I'm going to miss him Fox._ ~ She rolled onto her back so that he could see her face, frown plastered over it. As he walked over to her to lay on the bed with her, she continued. ~ _He was my Uncle, Fox. I know he was a butler, but I grew up seeing him as family. Uncle Lang was always so nice, I wish I could have been here sooner. Just one more day, it's all I would have asked for._ ~ She scooted over atop the covers to let her boyfriend cuddle up next to her.

"I know I didn't know him for even a fraction of the time you did, but I'm going to miss him too. But hey," he turned his head to look at her, "at least we got his pre-emptive marriage blessing." The mute's frown broke as her lips curved to a half smile at that.

~ _I thought you weren't all too keen last time_ _ **I**_ _mentioned it._ ~ Starting with a shrug, he followed that up with his reasoning.

"Before our whole ordeal with the Parchment of Volentes, Soul Mates never even crossed my mind as a legitimate concept. It was such a slow burn with Coco and Velvet that I thought it would never happen, I mean the girls fancied each other but Coco was being a complete... I'm not even sure what she was doing but it was ridiculous." Neo silently giggled at the thought. "Once Coco dropped that silly act, all of the feelings that Velvet had clearly been storing came pouring out and they gelled together. Most other couples I've noticed around took a fairly long time to get going as well. We're a week and a half in, and we already feel like we want to spend the rest of our lives together. You can't _not_ believe in Soul Mates if that happens. And I don't give a shit if it was 'by Technicality' or legit, I love you Neo and I genuinely want to spend the rest of my life with you. I wouldn't be happier any other way." Tears returned to Neo's eyes, but they were happy tears.

~ _And you know from me that there is no one else in the world I'd rather have by my side. Not only did we get my parents' early blessings, but as a dying gift from him we got my Uncle Lang's blessing too. If we wanted we could get married right now, providing you have a ring in your pocket and someone to do the ceremony on speed-dial._ ~

"Nope!" came the slightly too quick response. "No. I mean, um, I..." Calming himself down with a deep breath, he tried to form his words a bit better this time. "Knowing that we have your parents' and your Uncle's blessing for marriage is fantastic, I honestly believe that we will cross that bridge at some point in our future, no doubts. But I want to emphasise 'our _future_ '. We-" Her soft lips lovingly pressing against his own silenced him, and he gave in and returned the emotions after a couple of seconds.

~ _I know what you were going to say, and I agree with you._ ~ Their lips were still locked together, but they had to relent - oxygen was kind of important. ~ _"As a Huntsman and Huntress-in-Training, that will come first. Then life afterwards can fall into place how we see fit." I know that. I can wait, I am_ _ **willing**_ _to wait, if I know that we can be together at the end of it all._ ~ She cupped his face in her hands as she stared into his eyes, thankful for the fact she knew he could finally stare back. ' _And I would do all of that because I love you Fox. Forever and always._ ' She gave him a quick kiss on the lips. Then a second. Then a third, which went on for a little longer. Fourth time, it changed from a quick kiss to a proper, full on smooch. Breaking away from each other once again when the call of oxygen became too great for them, Neo scooted herself closer to Fox's side, her hip resting squarely against his side (being smaller than him, that's where they'd need to be if they wanted to kiss some more) and lay her head on his shoulder. ~ _You were pretty quick on the "Nope" though._ ~

"You threw the marriage thing at me again, and because you did I panicked. Sorry." He threw that last word out with great sarcasm, something his girlfriend did not miss at all. If the sarcasm came from anyone else it would have irked her greatly, but coming from Fox she felt nothing but a tinge of guilt.

~ _No, it's my fault; if anything, you should be accepting my apology._ ~

"I don't want your pity apology. If I'm going to win, I'm going to fight your fair and square and win _that_ way."

~ _Really? You want to fight me?_ ~

"Why? You scared?" Fox lifted himself up into a sitting position, ready for an attack.

~ _Okay, pretty boy,_ ~ she said with a little laugh, sitting up as well to remain on a somewhat level playing field against her possible immanent opponent, ~ _I know that I'm small and cute and underestimated by the vast majority of people who try to square off with me, but you have not only seen me fight, you have also fought alongside me and have battled against me. You know how strong I really am. How do you expect to beat me mano-a-mano? Especially, now that I remember, when I beat you and your entire team_ _ **at the same time**_ _with such ease that it was honestly hindering on being boring._ ~ She rested her hands on her hips, grinning as is she had already won the battle before it had even begun. ~ _How will you fight me?_ ~

"First, did you learn nothing from the flight over - never spell out your plans to your enemies." Neo rolled her eyes at that; yes, he was very clever in to tricking her. But fool me once. "And two, who said anything about fighting you?" Neo's mind raced, trying to find the obvious hidden meaning behind his response. She found the answer, but a split second too late. Her eyes blinked a ghostly vanilla white as she was tackled to the floor by her boyfriend and he started peppering her sides with tickles.

~ _You... son of... a b... Ah, I'm going to..._ ~

"Sorry, hun. Can't here you over the laugher" he joked, internally wishing it was true though - it was too quiet. He worked under her ribs and her body arched in an effort to try and stop him, but it only gave him more places to tickle and more ammo to use.

~ _Thought we... said... no more tic... tickling..._ ~ she said with a wide grin on her face, her mind wishing that she could speak just for a moment, just so she could laugh away the pain.

"Ah, see I remember _you_ -" on that word, he went in for another strong attack, this time under her arms "-agreed to never attack me again. I don't recall ever saying such." She squirmed under him, trying to escape the onslaught of tickles. Using all her might, she moved her arms out and then reached and grabbed Fox by both wrists. Once she had, using her aforementioned underestimated strength, she lifted his arms away from her body. "Give it back."

~ _Give what back? Wait... can you take your hands off?_ ~ She was genuinely curious now, looking for any signs on his wrist that he could.

"No, but I'd like a bit of motor control back in them." If she had the ability to do so, the mute would have been "umm"-ing and "err"-ing just as sarcastically as the faces she was pulling. After a long while, she looked at him again and joked,

~ _Well I don't think you deserve control back, but I'mma drop you anyway._ ~ And she did just that. Fox only registered he was falling right as his face landed between Neo's breasts. ~ _Oh, Fox! We're in my parents' house!_ ~ Taking a page or two from Coco's books, Neo overreacted to the max; hand on her forehead, sighing, overdramatising everything. ~ _What if they were to walk in on us like that, you sexual fiend!_ ~

"You dropped me on your boobs!" he replied in a hushed shout, not particularly fond of the idea of Oakley and Yubae walking in to the house after the wake and having that be the first thing they hear through the door, his face a slight shade of red. Neo's smirk told him that she'd gotten what she wanted. "You're the worst, you know that?"

With a wink, she responded with ~ _I aim to please._ ~

"Well, that you do. And you do well, I might add." Her face turned pink with embarrassment as she waved a hand at him as if to say 'Stop it, you're making me blush'; he was doing quite well. "But," he pushed himself up to standing position, using her breasts as a platform to push off of, "I think it's fair to say I won that, so I will take my victory with my head held high." As a truce act, he extended a hand for her to hold whilst she got up, which she took... then instantly pulled him down to the floor again, her body rolling on top of his the moment he hit the carpet. "Can't you let me have this victory? Just this once?" he questioned with a groan, body now stinging with the sharp pains of hitting the floor.

~ _Hmm... nope._ ~ She leaned down and gave him a kiss on the nose, smiling all the while. ~ _You're my boyfriend Fox. My Soul Mate. That "title" comes with_ _ **some**_ _privileges, none of them state that I_ _ **have**_ _to let you win anything we do._ ~

"Sure, fine, whatever. Can I get up now?" Her answer was to flop onto him completely, wrapping her arms and legs around his body to cling onto him like a limpet. He giggled, that turned into laughter. He managed (somehow) to stand up, Neo still holding onto him as if her life depended on it. He even tried a couple of times to pry her off, but she held a vice like grip on his body. Eventually he gave up. Yubae walked in and honestly jumped a little at seeing her daughter as an accessory to her boyfriend. The pair turned to the door on hearing the older woman jumping.

{" _Hi, Mom. How are-_ "} Fox seized the opportunity that had presented itself when she started signing to force her off him, even going so far as to hold her under the arms at his full extension to stop her trying again. She jokingly tried to reach out and grab him again, knowing that she couldn't reach, but equally so she knew she could get him back later.

"Sorry, she's being a bit... clingy at the moment." He emphasised the fact by leaning back a little, all while she "tried" to grab him again.

"That's fine, my dear. I just wanted to speak to you both, I shan't be long." He put Neo down as Yubae walked over to the bed, sitting on the edge. Knowing what she'd ask first of them, they sat down next to her - Neo filling the space between her Mother and boyfriend. "I know you were told of Lang's profession when you were younger, but I thought I'd elaborate slightly for you. Lang was a servant to your Grandfather when he had his own business and power. He wasn't a bad man, your Grandfather, just misguided, apparently. I never met the man myself. Lang was 7 years older than your Father, but their somewhat similar ages meant they bonded over similar things, and they actually grew closer together as friends than they did as Master and Servant. When Oakley moved away from his Father, he took Lang with him. They found the house we first lived in after a few hours of searching and they had the keys by the end of the day. When your Father met me and brought me home for the first time, I saw Lang and immediately thought of him as a friend of your Father's. I was later informed that he was his butler, but I never saw him as that. Oakley didn't either, and that's when he knew he found the one.

"Time went on and we became more like a family of three than we were a couple with a butler. Vinnie came along and you joined him afterwards, and we were all happy. When you came along though, he saw you and mentioned you were the most beautiful thing he had ever seen in his life." Yubae took Neo's Scroll and started going through some things, all of which were flying by too fast for the younger woman to notice. "From that point on, he outright refused to be paid anymore. He wanted to be nothing but an Uncle to both of you, so we gave him that wish. It was still his job, so he did need to be paid but he refused. So, we took everything we were giving him and we put it away in a separate account. We told him of it, obviously, saying that it was his. Still he refused. A week ago, when he first felt like his days were numbered, he wanted to contact you to get you here, but it seems you were coming anyway. That's the trouble with your multiple identities Orchid, we could never pin you down for long enough to send word to you."

{" _Not a problem anymore Mom._ "} Her Mother raised an eyebrow inquisitively. ~ _Oh, right. I haven't told her yet._ ~

~ _Dunce._ ~

~ _Don't you "dunce" me Fox!_ ~ He grinned as Neo turned back to her Mom to explain. {" _Professor Ozpin has granted me entry to his school. I'm going to be attending Beacon Academy in Vale for the next two years, so you'll have an address to send things to if you needed._ "}

"My flower, that's wonderful!" Hugging her daughter, she knew she was thanking her. "Anyway; Lang wanted to send for you due to his Last Will & Testament. In it, he said that 'the entire contents of that account go to his flower, Orchid Russet.' I am merely fulfilling his desire. Everything's been taken care of already, it's under your name now Orchid." She reached into one of the pockets on her trouser leg and pulled out a card. "This should be linked with your new account within the hour or so." With hesitation, the mute took the bank card from her Mom. She smiled at it, knowing that her Uncle Lang approved this and gave her essentially all his money on his death. "He wanted you to do something nice with someone special either the day of, or day after his funeral using the money on that card, to treat yourself and know that it's essentially him paying for it." Looking at the card, she noticed something about it. There was some sort of holographic design on it, one that you could only really see in the right light. Holding the card by two opposing corners and moving it slightly to catch the right angle, Heterochromatic eyes focussed hard on the task, then blinked to a matching pink hue upon getting it right. Fox noted how much Mother and daughter looked alike when they were like that. Tears came quickly as Neo read what was on the card.

_My Flower, with you always_

~ _Uncle Lang..._ ~ she thought, smiling at the sky. Fox heard the thought, and smiled with her.

Yubae left soon after, so Fox and Neo were alone once again in the room. They didn't want to do anything else today except lay on the bed in each other's arms, but they were going to honour her late Uncle's request - tomorrow would be a day in memorial to a good man, and a great Uncle.


	38. The First Step in a New Life

"So soon?" Vinnie asked, expressing his own and their parents' thoughts.

{" _Sorry Vin, but lessons are gonna start back up again in a couple of days, so we need to head back and get caught up on things we missed over this week from our teammates and get my uniform all sorted. Plus, we lose time going back to Vale, coming here we technically arrived the same day we left._ "}

"I understand but, it's just... it feels like you've only just got back, and now you're leaving again so soon." He may have been the eldest of them, but Vinnie was still emotional over things after yesterday. "I thought you'd stay a little longer..."

"We will support you nonetheless Orchid." Oakley mentioned, walking behind his son and resting a hand on his shoulder. "And Fox, of course. I feel as if you are already part of the family now."

"Thank you, Oakley, it means a lot." He turned to Vinnie and gave him a friendly smile. "Hey Vin, you _are_ welcome to join us, y'know. We did offer."

"I know. But this is your date, not mine."

{" _I dunno, Fox was eyeing you up earlier - you may be in with a shot._ "} The four Russets laughed - one silently - at that good-natured joke, all while Fox stood there perplexed - he still hadn't learned Sign Language, so Neo was taking this opportunity to use it to annoy him as much as she could while she still can.

"No, I won't stop you," the son said after his laughter died down. "It's your date. Just have fun _for_ me instead, and Lang obviously." Neo swore there was a brief moment her heart stopped at the mention of his name, but she realised that may be because his death is still so fresh and, ultimately, she missed him greatly. She smiled a thank you, then headed out for the day with Fox.

"And on today's books, we have...?"

~ _Something I know you have never done before._ ~ He slung an arm around her shoulder on hearing that, smiling all the while as well.

"I like the sound of that plan."

* * *

"The Atlas Aquarium?" he asked as best he could, mouth still open wide at the spectacle before him.

~ _What'd you think of it?_ ~

"I think Atlas has too much money as a collective; but if they're providing actual marvels like this, I don't care." The Aquarium was a large building with the outside front face almost entirely covered with mirror-like windows. The rest of the building, an aircraft hangar shaped building, was covered in what Fox assumed was the same material everything else was made from, only this was painted in an equally brilliant shade of sea green. The only other thing, besides the colour, that made it stand out was the lack of shine on the building anywhere except the windows. But then, if you've got what is essentially a sheet of a naturally shiny material pointed towards the sky, then on a sunny day when any bit of light reflects off it and blinds, however temporarily, the pilot to an aircraft, a lot could go wrong quickly.

~ _We just going to stand here, staring at the front? Or do you want to see inside as well?_ ~ She waited all of three seconds before she got bored and tried to drag him inside, but luckily an idea came into her head 0.25 seconds afterwards that stopped her. She got her Scroll out and snapped as many photos as she dared of him, the boy completely engrossed in the sight that he didn't notice.

**Neo:  
_I've found the rare Gawp Fish outside its natural habitat!_**

**_13 files attached. Click_ ** **_here_ ** **_to view_ **

_**Might need to get it inside though, don't want this endangered species going extinct on my watch.** _

~ _They'll appreciate the joke._ ~ She made sure she projected that thought so Fox would register, but it seemed like his gawping could not be stopped. Chuckling silently to herself, she grabbed his hand and started leading him in. Fox's jaw somehow managed to fall further as he entered. The sights weren't all that spectacular at the start, but the sensation of walking into a place that was full of beautiful things to stare at for hours on end amazed him. Not wishing to break him from staring, Neo made her way to get the tickets.

{" _Two. Adults._ "}

"Two Adult entry tickets. Are either of you a Huntsman or Huntress? We offer a discount for them with proof." Well, now she _had_ to break his trance. She snapped her fingers in front of his eyes, bringing him back to the real world.

"Huh? Wha-?"

~ _Do you have proof that you're a Huntsman on you? You could get a discount._ ~ He nodded, reaching into his pocket. ~ _Oh, and could you try explaining I am technically in the enrolling process? I might get in on that discount too._ ~

~ _Sure._ ~ "There's mine." He handed over his ID. "Um, my girlfriend here was enrolled into Beacon about a week ago, so she doesn't actually have her Provisional Huntress ID. Is there-?"

"If you give me your name madam, I can check the system for you. I will tell you now that if we cannot find you on the system we will have to charge normal price, regardless of if you are. I wish to apologise in advance if this happens, but it is company policy." The mute gave a shrug, not caring if she got the discount but still willing to give it a shot. It'd be nice to get recognition for her work and profession for a change, rather than a "good job" that came as rarely as a full moon anymore. "Name please, madam?" The mute then proceeded to spell out her name in Sign; it took a little while but they got there. "I'm sorry, Ms Neopolitan, but you aren't on the Beacon Student database as of yet. We can't allow a discount for you based on good faith unfortunately." The couple looked at each other, then gave a small grin of acceptance.

"Neo says that's fine; one adult, one Huntsman for entry." They paid on her new card, got a stamp and bracelet, then walked in to the actual main building.

~ _Soon..._ ~ she thought to herself, a small grin growing on her face again.

A few metres down the way, the small woman heard a gasp from her left and looked up to see Fox staring in wonder at the sights before him. They'd made their way in and were standing in front of the first tank, a large glass box filled with a large array of colourful fish. Against the stark blue backdrop they were in to mimic the open ocean of their natural habitat, the small animals of vibrant yellows, oranges and even a few pinks stood out as living, breathing blobs of colour that caught the students' eyes.

"Oh my Oum, they are amazing!" he said, having finally regained his ability to word good again.

~ _Pretty awesome, right?_ ~ His ability to speak was short lived as he planted his face right by the glass pane, the deep *dun* the impact made sending the fish swimming away and a few parents to look at the odd man in confusion. Neo - for probably the very first time in her new life - blushed in public from sheer embarrassment, ran up to Fox and yanked him away from the glass, shooting looks of apologies to everyone she made eye contact with, and even people she didn't just to make sure. ~ _The hell are you doing?!_ _ **Kids**_ _are behaving better than you now._ ~ She pushed him near a wall, away from the eyes of most people.

~ _Kids would have had sight before coming here,_ ~ he bit back, keeping the conversation in their heads to stop people from thinking he was crazy for talking to himself... crazier.

~ _Don't use that as excuse Fox. You a grown ass man, yet you acted like a child._ ~

~ _Oh, forgive me; I seem to recall a certain someone getting a trifle emotional over the fact someone else chose an inanimate object over them to the point they went away and studied braille to get back at them. That seems very childish too, if you ask me.~_

~ _I only went away and learned braille because somebody decided that finishing a book was more important than possibly finding a way to rid us of that ridiculous object's hold over us!_ ~

~ _But look where we are because of it Neo!_ ~ He held his arms wide, gesturing the entire building they were currently inside. ~ _You're at home with your family, I can see, we have each other; everything went just f-_ ~

~ _Where would we be if I_ _ **wasn't**_ _persistent? If I had walked away from Beacon and left you to your own devices? You would have been as blind as the day you were born, that Nuckelavee most likely would have kicked your asses - even if it didn't there'd be no photo evidence that you killed it, so no financial reward for that besides basic payment or any subsequent reward based from that._ ~

~ _Sure, fine, whatever._ ~ The scarred boy raised his hands in defeat, not wanting to continue with either the conversation or the trip around the Aquarium; but a brainwave hit him and he swivelled back around to look straight into her eyes, their colours blinking from heterochromatic pink and brown to monochromatic ivory white as the young woman saw the look on his face? ~ _And what about_ _ **you**_ _, Neo?_ ~

~ _What... what are you-?_ ~

~ _Where would you be, if you hadn't stuck around?_ ~ Her irises remained white as she avoided any and all eye contact with Fox out of fear. She shouldn't have to feel that around anyone anymore, _especially_ her boyfriend.

~ _I might have... stayed with the Arctic Fox Faunus from the café, settled down with her... I..._ ~ she knew what she wanted to say, but she couldn't. She would have felt alone, even with the girl beside her, because something felt missing in her - because technically it was - and she'd never have it. She would stay for a little while before she eventually left because she knows no better.

~ _You would be a target, an easy target at that, for Daerk._ ~ The harmful intent behind Fox's voice was gone now, replaced now by worry. ~ _There'd be no one there by your side, so when they came for you - because it was made pretty obvious that it wasn't an "if they came" situation - you'd be alone and, frankly, would be taken, tortured and eventually killed. That man was not the sort of person I'd want to come face-to-face with alone. And what I think you'll find would be the worst thing out of it all; there's a good chance you wouldn't have come home._ ~ Her hand shot up to her mouth in a silent gasp. She pieced the rest together after that; no coming home, be it because she was dead or otherwise, meant that she wouldn't have seen her Uncle Lang again. He would have died upset, knowing that he never saw his little flower again since the day she left home.

She never would have said goodbye...

The tears turned on like a switch, streams coming out with every silent sob she made. Despite the argument they'd been having, Neo buried her head into Fox's chest and hugged him tight, afraid of ever letting go.

"I've said a lot of things before Ni, things that I ultimately regret. That conversation, going on the list. But everything I said is true. I'm not taking the entire blame, it was kind of your fault too _BUT_ you have a perfectly solid reason for it. I don't. Your Uncle passed, someone you've known your entire life, and you are still emotionally raw. Small things are going to irritate you more than they usually would, and I realise now that I may have... oh, who am I kidding? I _did_ grossly over-react and that was enough for you. I didn't make the situation any better. Lang would be so disappointed in me, for treating his special little girl the way I just did." He wasn't sure if he imagined it, but Fox was pretty sure he heard let out a tiny giggle at that, though in retrospect it may have just been her sniffing. He definitely wasn't imagining the smile that was now on her face. "There's the smile I love."

~ _You're a dick, you know that?_ ~ she said, tears still falling but they were subsiding.

"I'll take it."

~ _Okay, first; that's my job not yours._ ~ Fox choked on the air on hearing that, straining very hard against the gigantic belly laugh that nearly erupted from within that would have most likely got them kicked out.

~ _I mean..._ ~ he started, but was cut off.

~ _Second, yo-_ ~ Fox's response actually caught her off guard. She blinked a couple of times, just to make sure she heard it right, then continued on. She was going to be bringing that conversation topic up again though. ~ _Second, you_ _ **are**_ _a dick. But then you are also so sweet and kind, and at times I don't know how on Remnant I wound up with someone so amazing as you in my life, let alone as my boyfriend._ ~ He shrugged, then pulled her in closer for a tight hug. With another smirk, she responded with an even tighter hug than his, knocking all the wind out of him.

"Fuck... me..." he panted, the sudden loss of air genuinely hurting his lungs with every breath.

~ _Fox! Not while there are kids present. Maybe later._ ~ She was a horrible tease sometimes, and she knew it - it was kind of a specialty. ~ _Now come on, we didn't pay to stay in the corner arguing._ ' She held a hand out for him to take. ' _But I'm holding your hand the entire time, because if you acted like a child once I'm not going to give you the chance to do it again._ ~ With a roll of his eyes, Fox took her hand and the couple returned to the beaten path and enjoyed their own tour of the Aquarium.

The marine life that could be found throughout Remnant came first, as was tradition in their Aquariums. It meant that the more exciting and unique species could be found later on in the day, rather than walking in and right there is the main attraction of the tour. But that didn't mean that the generic wildlife was boring. Far from it - Remnant's waters were home to many amazing animals, both predator and prey. There were Tangs, Tuna, Salmon; basically, it was filled with all the types of fish that a certain raven haired Cat Faunus back at Beacon would love to eat in this part of the Aquarium, plus a few more. Fox was always drawn to the brighter coloured fish, so seeing the Angelfish honestly made him utter "Wow..." without him realising it. It was only when his girlfriend asked him if the fish was getting some special treatment or if she had ever made him say that was he aware of his actions. It took him a while to realise, but he eventually saved it.

"Everyday. You may not hear it, but I'm still amazed by your beauty every single day." Her cheeks tinted a healthy rose colour as her right eye shifted to match the pink hue of her left.

~ _Sap._ ~

"Love you too."

The couple wandered around the general tanks for a few more minutes before making their way into the Kingdom specific parts of the place.

"Y'know, having recently been to the Museum in Vale, I've never realised how much we like to split up all the Kingdoms' different things - all the Atlas in one place, Vacuo in another, Haven in a third and Vale filling in the fourth space, occasionally having Menagerie taking up the excess room."

~ _One day, maybe we won't need to do that. But for things like this, it makes sense. Plus, I'm sure us students would be most thankful for having things in one easy to find place should we have an essay to write on the specifics of five different individual fish native exclusively to the waters around Menagerie._ ~ Fox gave the most unenthusiastic "whoop" he could give regarding tests and essays. In all honesty, he'd forgotten about them entirely over the past two weeks or so. His lack of will to do anything disappeared when they walked into the room they just so happened to be talking about - Menagerie.

"Well, let's see what we can find." Each and every tank was home to an array of many different aquatic wildlife from the shores of Menagerie, mostly fish (to accommodate the feline population of the island) but not without a few other amazing creatures as well. "Okay, I think you'll love this one Neo." The mute followed the gaze of her boyfriend to the tank and, oh my Oum he was right! Inside was a crab-like creature with long, spindly legs and a couple of almost comically large claws at the front. But that wasn't what caught their eyes, it was the colour. The crabs in the tank, who were appropriately named "Sanctus Crabs", gleamed with pearlescent shells that shone with every colour of the visible rainbow, hence their name. And not was another interesting creature, a large seahorse - twice the size of any other seahorse they had seen here, with dark, near black skin and distinct white markings on it.

~ _I've heard about these. These're called_ truci effingo Hippocampus erectus _, "Grimm Copying Seahorses". Their colouring helps confuse the Grimm in the waters, as they won't attack one of their own, and it occasionally throws fishermen off when they catch what they believe is a Grimm._ ~ She looked to her side to see the taller man standing there with a grin on his face, staring back at her. ~ _What?_ ~

"Professor Port is gonna love you."

~ _Is that the one with the moustache?_ ~

"Yeah, he loves his animals and Grimm."

~ _Charmed._ ~

Lots of the animals in the Menagerie section were accustomed to warmer and cooler waters, plus having to survive against an entire island completely full of half animal hybrids - a large number of which hunt them. There were lots of crustaceans with thick plating and larger animals too, ones that would provide more of a challenge to those who wished to hunt them; but equally would be a bigger meal for that family when they were caught, it was always more a question of "when" than a question of "if". Vale, on the other hand, had much daintier creatures by comparison both in size and protection, made for much shallower waters and less ferocious out-of-water hunters. There were still some animals in the waters that you couldn't exactly get inside an Aquarium like this, even with all the Dust and Lien that Atlas could pump into the creatures' upkeep and wellbeing. It meant species like the Patch Hooded Cuttlefish could thrive in captivity with zero threats of their natural predators attacking them and nearly wiping them from existence.

Mistral held a monopoly of diversity over the other Kingdoms when it came to marine life. As the people of the Kingdom and its outer settlements all have a mutual respect for the sea, it seemed the Gods equally blessed them with a wide array of animals to look after. Their southern regions in particular had almost tropical levels of warmth at times, and this was reflected in the creatures.

"How'd they even feed these things?"

~ _Great skill, patience, and balls of steel._ ~ The pair of them were staring at a tank that, for the most part, was blacked out save for multi-coloured lights at the bottom, illuminating the giant Jellyfish in man-made glows of neon. ~ _I mean, how big are these things?_ ~

"Says here," he started, gesturing towards the information board by the creatures' tank, "that these ones are small in comparison to their wild brethren; they're 5ft in body alone with 18ft tendrils, in the wild those numbers jump to 8ft and nearly 30ft." Neo looked thoroughly impressed at that notion when an electronic voice rang out over the tannoy system.

 _*Ladies and Gentlemen, the Colossal Jellyfish feeding will be commencing in the Mistral Zone in a minutes' time, that's Jellyfish feeding in the Mistral Zone._ _*_

~ _Want to stay?_ ~

"Stupid question, of course I do." Despite the fact it was early afternoon, the lights were dimmed in the Mistral Zone to the point of twilight levels of darkness. Even the other tanks had their lights dimmed. A few people, most likely the Faunus' in the crowd, spotted a man in a heavily padded diving suit jumping in at the top of the large Aquarium tank with the Colossal Jellyfish. The voiceover that accompanied the feeding session was so recognisable that everyone in the audience who had not been here before all collectively either spoke or thought "Oh, I know who that guy is!"

~ _I watched one of his old documentaries when I was younger, he once went "Boo!" to a sloth._ ~

"Sounds like the sort of thing he'd do." The voice of the man spoke about the Colossal Jellyfish in detail; a brief history of the species, why the ones in captivity were much smaller and more docile and then their feeding habits.

* _... about these magnificent creatures is the way in which they hunt. A Colossal Jellyfish is probably one of the only remaining non-Grimm predator jellyfish in our oceans. They are see-through for the most part, which is why they are such good predators - their natural camouflage aids their hunting. They are not scavengers, feeding of the remains of others' spoils, they much prefer their own kill..._ * On that cue, three bags full of sizable fish were released into the tank, then the diver made a hasty retreat from the tank. * _...se little things inside their heads that can manifest a chemical compound in their bodies to create what is essentially Dust. Despite the fact that they are merely animals, these are the only known species besides humans and Faunus that can manipulate Dust like chemicals to their advantage._ * There was a yellow glow originating from inside the head of the Jellyfish, and the Huntsman and Huntress-in-Training knew exactly what this meant. That yellow glow brightened to three times intensity. Then it started flowing through the body down to the tip of a single tendril. A fish swam past a few times, even bumping into the head once or twice, before it came close to the tendril in question. With a blinding flash of yellow and white, the lightning arced from the tip to the unlucky victim and in an instant the fish was no longer alive - all its insides were fried, as were its eyes. The fish was dead. * _The fish dies in a painless way, it's over far too quickly for its brain to even register what's happening. This meal will last the Jellyfish for 10 days. In that time, whilst it is digesting and running off the energy its meal provides, it simply floats around, waiting for something to happen._ * The giant beasts floated towards their new kill and wrapped them in a tendril, taking them off to eat out of sight of prying eyes. The lights faded back up again once that was all done.

"That..."

~ _Was..._ ~

~ _AWESOME!_ ~ the finished together. They hugged each other as they walked out towards the final Kingdom. ~ _Let's see you try and top_ _ **that**_ _, Atlas!_ ~

**~000~**

Fox and Neo were currently eating her words. The room they stepped into was clearly the largest and tallest of them all, as most would imagine it would be. The vast number of species in the room was a sight to behold in of itself. There were regular fish - but even _they_ were above average in size and spectacle - turtles, arctic rays, seals, Fox was even certain he saw a shark in there, but Neo reminded him that sharks can't be kept in captivity and that it was probably just another boring, 7ft long giant Tuna.

~ _I hate it when I'm wrong,_ ~ Neo admitted, much to Fox's own personal amusement, ~ _it's such a disappointing feeling, how do you cope with it?_ ~

"And you're asking me why?"

~ _Well,_ _ **one**_ _of us needs to be right, and if I'm always right, then you ca-_ ~ the petite woman cut herself off when a giant shadow ominously loomed over their heads. ~ _It's not just me, right?_ ~

"Nope. There's definitely something over our heads."

~ _Oum, I hate it when I'm right._ ~ Ignoring her mental U-turn, the couple slowly looked up to see the source of the shadow. I don't know if you've ever had a plane flying less than 100ft over your heads, but that was the exact reaction they had when they saw what it was. Fox jumped in surprise and Neo's eyes blinked vanilla as they saw the creature; a 70ft (from top to the tail end of the tentacles), deep red Squid. The animal was suspended in a tank above everyone's heads with 2ft thick glass at the bottom for extra-extra protection and safety.

"Ain't she a beaut?" a strongly accented voice came, startling the pair of them back to the ground. The man was fairly tall, 5' 10.5", with a head of blond scruffy hair similar to Fox's look. He wore cargo shorts (even in the abysmal Atlas "summer" weather they were having), a khaki coloured polo shirt with the first three buttons undone revealing his chest, and a large and very noticeable Faunus tail - one of a crocodile. "Girl's the largest specimen ever captured alive, all thanks t' yours truly. I hate to see 'em all locked up like this though."

"Why did you do it then? No offence, but-"

"None taken; but a job's a job." He looked back up at the Squid, a sense of sadness coming over him at the sight of her - apparently it was a her. "Not long left girl," he whispered to it, "you'll be 'right." The man looked back down to see the two younger people looking at him with a hint of confusion. "Sorry, can't help it sometimes." He took a moment, looking between the pair of them. "You's ain't to sure who I am, are ya?" They both shook their heads. A small giggle left the man. "Aww, that's so refreshin' - to not have people recognising me. Tell ya what," he grabbed a couple of pieces of paper and a pen from his back pocket "what's your names?"

"Oh, um, I'm Fox and this is Neo."

"Fox... and Neo..." he scribbled away on the paper. "There. Tell your friends, see what they all say." He left them with a smile, his large tail curling up behind him to not let it trip other up, and he disappeared into the crowd.

"What was that all about?"

~ _I have absolutely no idea; I think we ought to keep these though, just in case we missed something big just then._ ~

"We probably did," he admitted, glancing skyward once more, "but there was no way that we would miss you, girl." With newly acquired photos in hand and a few gifts from the gift shop later, they couple were done and heading back to Neo's home to pick up their stuff and return to Atlas. They were barely three seconds in the door before Yubae caught them in a massive hug.

"I don't want this to end," the pink haired woman nearly cried through teary eyes and a croaky voice, "you have barely been home for a few days and yet you are leaving so soon." The hug broke so that Mother could look daughter straight in the eye. "Please reconsider sweetie."

"Yubae," the husband said with a tired giggle, "you cannot stop her from returning to Beacon. She is her own woman now, and she has been for the past eight years now. I know it has been a very long time since we last saw...well, _you_ here Orchid, but it was nice to have you back. Perhaps next time the stay could be a little more substantial? Fox, of course, will always be welcomed here again." Out of habit, the dark skinned boy bowed slightly.

"It'd be a pleasure Oakley. Thank you for that."

"No, thank _you,_ Fox. You brought our daughter home to us. There is no greater gift to a parent than seeing your child's face again after so long of being apart. I have no doubts that you two will come to feel the same way in the future yourselves." Both of them grew slightly paler and shot the other a sideways glance of panic.

~ _Be honest, you weren't expecting that, were you?_ ~

~ _Nope. You?_ ~

~ _Not from Dad, no. Vinnie, maybe; but not Dad._ ~

"Oakley, dear, don't you think it's a little early in their relationship to be thinking about that sort of thing?" The man turned to his wife, the woman he knew always knew what was best. "Besides, they have studies they still need to do and an Academy to graduate from. Ozpin would not take too seriously to having one of his students graduating his Academy with either a bun in the oven or a crying child in one of the parent's arms at the ceremony."

{" _Okay; Mom, Dad - FAR too much unnecessary information all at once. That's not going to be happening any time soon._ "} Yubae took a sigh of relief whilst Oakley appeared somewhat disappointed at the revelation. {" _We have our lives to forge first, then once we've been going at it for a couple of years then maybe we'll step back, get a place of our own and start a family. But only then, not before._ "}

"I understand dear."

"As do I." The trio all came together for a family hug, Yubae's head laying on Neo's natural pink side, Oakley on her natural brown.

"Oh, before we go Yubae, we were curious if you knew who this was." The folded piece of paper was taken from his back pocket and unfolded, revealing a picture of the Faunus they met at the Aquarium, a big toothy grin on his face essentially cuddling a young Gator Grimm, the monster being the one looking more terrified than the Faunus. On the side was inscribed in pen was;

_Fox / Neo,_

_You'll kick yourselves when you realise!_

_Viridian Irwin_

"You... didn't know who that man was?" Oakley asked, shock covering his face.

"N...no?" Fox was unsure if this was a good thing or a bad. From the reactions, he was guessing very bad. Yubae stormed off, making the couple at the door even more worried that they had done something wrong. After a minute or two, the woman returned and thrust the DVD into her daughter's hand.

"I do not care how tired you are when you land, you are watching this on your flight back tomorrow, alright?"

{" _Why would I need to-_ "} The realisation hit her as she looked at the box that her Mother had (forcefully) given her; The Crocodile Hunter. ~ _Fox hunny?_ ~

~ _Yeah?_ ~

~ _We fucked up BIG._ ~

~ _How?_ ~

~ _That was Viridian Irwin, Great- x5 Grandson to the Legendary Crocodile Hunter himself, Steve._ ~ In that moment, it hit Fox too.

"Oh, we are so stupid..." Neo just nodded her head. "We'll leave Neo's here, so you have something else to remember us by besides these." As Fox reached into the bag that held their presents, he was caught in a solo hug by Yubae; she was in a very hugging mood at the moment.

"Fox, I know you didn't mean it that way, but don't say things like it will be the last time. We are going to see you again. Both you and Orchid are very capable fighters, you've proven yourself against our Vinnie. He may not have been doing a lot over the years since his own graduation, but he is still a fully trained and qualified Huntsman, and you beat him."

"By sheer dumb luck," he offered, downplaying the victory.

"Is a victory in a tournament still a victory even if it was 'dumb luck'?" She had a point there, and the face the scarred boy pulled confirmed her reasoning. "I have every faith in your safe return in the future."

"Thank you Yubae. But anyway, your presents. Orchid helped pick them out for you." For Oakley, they have gifted him a simple pair of novelty gloves - each with the face of a turtle on. Yubae's gift was a Plushie of the Colossal Jellyfish for a keychain. Vinnie got a small necklace with the Aquarium's stamp on it, but it could easily be removed and replaced with something of more personal value to it.

"You are too kind Fox, Orchid."

{" _I believe we have a flight to catch. As much as I want to stay a little longer, we need to head back._ "} Tears again from the shortest one there. {" _I'm... going to miss you all again._ "}

"And we are going to miss you Orchid." With one more embrace between each parent and daughter, Fox shot upstairs to grab their belongings. In that time, Oakley spoke with his daughter. "My dear, you are going to be settling down now, aren't you?" She could guess what he meant by that, but to be completely sure she cocked her head to one side to express her confusion. "I mean, whilst you're at Beacon that's where you'll be staying, right? No moving around from Kingdom to Kingdom every few weeks or so?" Just as she thought, so she nodded. "Well then, if that's the case; we'd like to have your contact details then. We want to be able to contact you if we needed, rather than having to wait an undisclosed amount of time before yo-" A strong and sudden embrace nearly knocked the man over, but he regained his balance at the very last second, much to his wife's amusement. "I take it that's a yes?" Neo broke the hug and was tapping away on the screen in front of her; Oakley then realised that it was his Scroll she was typing the number onto not her own. She may be their sweet little Orchid, but at the end of the day Neo was still an ex-thief, and a darn good one at that.

{" _Message that number as soon as you can to make sure that it's definitely me._ "}

"We appreciate that Orc." The pink woman smiled a teary smile, then watched as Fox made his way to the door with all the bags they came here with. "Got everything Fox?"

"Yup. Got your weapon?" Neo nodded, reaching round the door to pick up her parasol and drape it over her shoulder. "Well then, this is farewell."

"It has been wonderful to meet you Fox. We hope to see you again soon." The two men shook each other's hand, then he and Yubae had one last hug before he handed Neo's bag over to her and the couple made their way down to the front gates and away. With a smile and a wave, the couple walked through the gates and shut them behind, leaving the Russet household for the last time.

~ _Thank you, Fox._ ~ He said nothing, just glanced over at her with a look of "Why?" With a silent giggle, she answered his question, paraphrasing her father from earlier. ~ _For bringing me home._ ~

* * *

**{FIN}**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that is the end of Book One! Stick around for "Book Two - The Team" soon!

**Author's Note:**

> Well, with THAT slight mis-click, I guess y'all get the first chapter of Senseless now then...
> 
> I was going to upload the whole first book in one hit, but clearly I can't be sensible and make sure I'm not clicking the "Post Without Preview" button instead of the "Preview" button. *sigh* oh well.


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